Clintasha One-Shots
by rollaroclintasha
Summary: My very favorite Clintasha one-shots that I have written, with the appearance of the other Avengers and some other Marvel characters!
1. Blind Love

**Hello all! So this is my first fanfiction, and my page is going to feature both SVU and Marvel characters, maybe other fandoms too, depending on my mood. Here's the first one, a Clintasha fanfic! (Note: this occurs during the first Avengers, not the second)**

Natasha spat out blood, staring indignantly up at Loki with hate in her eyes. She and Hawkeye had been taken by Loki and his goons, and now he wanted information from Barton.

"So, Hawkeye," Loki spat the name like poison, "you appear to be strong. Very strong, I'm impressed." The god angled his hand towards the many torture-induced bruises littering Natasha's partner's body. "But how would you like to see your pretty girlfriend take it instead?" Loki hit her once again, and an involuntary whimper slipped from Natasha's mouth as her head whipped to the side.

Loki drew a knife and presses it to Natasha's throat. "I'll ask you again, Hawkeye, where is my scepter?" he snarls.

Natasha and Clint lock eyes, and the fear in Natasha's makes Clint want to pound Loki dead a million times over. Clint tries to tell her, without words, that he is going to tell Loki what he wants to hear, but Natasha seems to understand and shakes her head. Clint pleads with his eyes, but Natasha shakes her red locks more.

"Hawkeye, I'm getting impatient!" Loki warns. Clint stays silent. "Okay, then, let's try something else," he growls.

Grabbing Natasha's hair, Loki pulls her head back and takes a handful of salt. One of his guards holds Natasha's eyes open, and the second Loki begins to press the salt to her eyes, she begins to scream, as does Clint.

"OKAY, OKAY! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Don't hurt her! You can't hurt her! Please, you can't hurt her!" Clint begs. Loki smirks.

"And why not, little Hawk?" he torments.

Clint doesn't answer for a brief moment, and Loki decides that that is a great time to continue grinding the salt into the Russian's eyes. "Because I love her!" Clint shouts, not able to withstand Natasha screaming. "I love her, and you can't hurt her because I need her! I will kill you, Loki! I swear to god I will murder you!" Barton screams.

"Really, isn't that sweet?" Loki smiles, but then it drops from his face. "I don't care," he says, dead serious, and presses on the Black Widow's eyes once again.

Rage consumes Clint, and he summons everything he has, practically hulking out as he snaps the zip tie on his wrists, lunging for Loki. With a single kick Clint takes out the only other person besides Loki and Natasha in the room, the guard who was holding Nat's eye's open. Clint grabs Loki and throws him head first against a wall, rendering him unconscious.

"Clint?" Nat whimpers.

"Yes, Tasha, it's me," Clint says, and gently undoes the zip tie on his partner, scooping her up like she weighed that of a feather.

"Clint, I can't see! I can't see Clint, I can't see!" She cries out, softly crying in pain when tears slid out of her swollen, puffy, abused eyes.

"It's all right, baby girl, I'm here. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you. I'm going to protect you, all right? I'm going to get you to Bruce and he'll fix you and then I'm never leaving you again, not for a second, baby. I promise. You're safe, you'll always be safe with me," Clint whispers, and Natasha relaxes a little in his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder, as he was carrying her bridal style.

"Clint?" Natasha asks as they escape the room where Loki was keeping them, not too far from Stark Towers.

"Yes, Nat?" he says, gazing at her lovingly as he walks.

"I love you too," she smiles through the consistent tears, leaning up blindly, pressing her lips to his.

For the first time in Natasha's life, she felt both safe and as if she had found her missing puzzle piece. She was going to be okay, because she had Clint and Clint had her.

 **So there it is! ANd just so you know, the majority of my posts will be short one-shots like this, and most will be about Clintasha. Leave Reviews and Requests if you want me to do a different ship, I'm open to ideas!**

 **-Leah xoxo**


	2. Nightmares and Promises

**In this one, Clint has a nightmare about Natasha dying**

 _Dream:_

 _Clint and Natasha were running, as fast as they could. The partners(both professionally and romantically) were being chased by at least five huge dudes with huge guns. Clint was trying to push down an urge to turn and fight, to make sure Nat got away. He finally convinced himself that she could take care of herself, and sure enough, they began to get some headway, widening the gap between them and the angry gunmen. But then Nat tripped. He had lagged just the tiniest bit behind, so when she went down, he had to react quickly and hurdle her so that he did not fall as well._

 _Clint turned and sprinted back to Natasha, terrified as he could hear the gunmen approaching rapidly. Clint bent down, grabbed the arm of the most important person in his life, and tried to help her up as fast as possible. "Come on," he whispered._

 _"My ankle!" Natasha whisper-shouted back, fear lacing the features of her face, the ones Clint had come to adore._

 _"You can do this, Nat," Clint said, pushing down the panic as the gunmen drew closer. They had to turn one more corner and they would be upon the couple with their massive, massive guns._

 _Natasha finally pulled herself up and they began to run again, but she was slower and so Clint dropped behind her, slowing himself down considerably, just in case the gunmen caught up and he had to protect his Nat. The two turned down an alley, took it as far as they could until they reached a fence, and then turned left._

 _Natasha was the one who noticed the barrel peeking out of the third story window of the apartment complex nearby. "Sniper!" She screamed, and dove for Clint, tackling him to the ground just as a sniper shot was heard._

I'm okay, _Clint thought to himself, checking his body for wounds. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw he hadn't been hit, but ice filled his veins when he heard Nat start to cough a wet, bloody-sounding cough. He turned to her, praying that what he already knew he was going to see was false, that the love of his life hadn't been hit._

 _Blood was seeping out of a bullet hole straight through Natasha's abdomen, and she coughed again, this time, blood stained her chin. She was kneeling beside him, but her eyes rolled back in her head just after the second cough._

 _"No!" Clint yelled, just as Natasha collapsed forward, into his arms. For the moment, the gunmen seemed to be fairly far off, but they were the last of Clint's concerns at that point in time. He gently adjusted Nat so that her head was in his lap, and her body laying flat._

 _"C-Clint, I love you," Natasha coughed again, and Clint could feel water on his face. He looked up, confused, as he thought it was raining, but then, he realized he was crying, and he had never done that before. Ever._

 _"No, Nat, don't you die on me. You are not going to die on me, okay? I am not going to just let you die," Clint said, trying to convince himself more than her._

 _Natasha's voice was getting more and more ragged, this was happening so fast. "I love you, Clint. It's okay, Clint. I think it's okay. But you need to run, okay? You need to go. It's okay. I love…" her head drooped to the side and her gorgeous eyes stopped sparkling._

 _"NO! NOOOOO! NAT! NATASHAAAA!" Clint wailed. He gripped the limp form of the woman he loved to his figure, sobbing uncontrollably. "PLEASE! COME BACK!"_

 _End Dream:_

"Clint, wake the hell up!" Natasha yelled, and finally resorted to slapping her boyfriend in the face. He was now crying in his sleep, whimpering and begging for something Natasha couldn't quite make out.

His bright eyes shot open, and Natasha could swear she had never seen her boyfriend look so vulnerable in all the years she'd known him. "Nat," he just barely managed to get out, and then he broke down, sobbing and holding her to him.

"It's just a dream, Clint. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Natasha asks, voice soft.

He sniffles. "You got shot… and you were dying… all because you pushed me out of the way… and you died in my arms," Clint started crying again, and the look on his face broke Natasha's heart.

"I'm fine, I'm right here," Nat says, and he hugs her tighter.

"Don't you ever die, Nat. I love you and I can't live without you, Natasha," Clint whimpers.

"I love you too Clint, and I am never going to go anywhere," she says.

"Promise?"

"Promise."


	3. Dearest Natasha

**In this one, it's just a fic based on the song Dearest Natasha. Definitely recommend listening to it while reading this!**

 _Dearest Natasha,_

 _Open your eyes,_

 _Give me a chance to say I love you and goodbye_

"Baby, please wake up," Clint whispered desperately gripping the hand of his girlfriend, partner, and the love of his life, Natasha. "Nat, I need you here. We all do. But me most of all. I need you here because I need someone who will at least split the last piece of pizza with me and someone who knows about my past but who loves me anyway. I need someone like you, okay, Tash?" He squeezes her hand, her unmoving hand flopped limp on the hospital bed.

"I need you and I love you. Do you remember that time we danced in the rain? That was the first time you really told me you loved me. I'd always known it, and so did you, but you could never say it. I get it, Natasha, I've loved you from that first night in Budapest, almost fifteen years ago, but I didn't tell you for four whole years. Four whole years, you were my everything and I couldn't tell you." Clint holds back a sob.

"You pushed me out of the way yesterday and now here we are, with you in a coma." Clint says. "I'll be back tomorrow,"

"I love you Nat," he says, and then he stands up and leaves.

 _Life is a battle,_

 _Hope to survive,_

 _I almost died on the field_

 _It was you on my mind_

"I still can't believe you jumped in front of that bullet, Nat. I can't believe you chose to be in a coma to save my life rather than learn to live without me. It's been two months since that day and I still find myself wishing I'd had enough time to save you too, but I just froze. This is my fault." Clint cries.

"God, I love you. I love everything about you, always and forever. I promise you, Nat."

"I love you Nat," he says, and then he stands up and leaves.

 _Dearest Natasha,_

 _Autumn's arrived_

 _Just let me hold your hand tonight_

"Hey, Nat, it's me again, Clint. I know I'm the only one who still comes and visits everyday but I don't want you to forget my name for when you wake up. Tony and Pepper had a baby, Natasha. A beautiful little girl, and they named her after you. Her name is Natasha Rose Stark, and I almost see you in her some of the time. She's so, so perfect, baby. I still love you." Clint says, holding the hand of the woman he loved so dearly.

"It's been a year since you saved my life, and still I regret not being able to save yours," Clint whispers. "I met a girl last night when I went out drinking with Tony an Bruce, she was really nice, but all I saw was you. The way you laugh, the way you smile, the way you would beat my ass if I ever tried to prank you. You. You're still what I need, even a year since I last kissed you. Even a year since you last smiled, since your last laugh and the last time you punched me in the face, actually the morning of that day I lost you. I love you Nat, I don't think I'll ever move on, if it comes to that," Clint says.

"I love you Nat," he says, and then he stands up and leaves.

 _The truth is what's hurting_

 _You're not coming back_

 _Are you trying_

 _To kill me with silence?_

"Hey, Nat. The doctors say you don't have long now, but don't be afraid. I'll be here until that monitor flatlines, until I know you don't need me anymore. Don't be afraid please, but if you can, fight. Fight with whatever it is you have left, and don't be ashamed if you don't win. You were always better than me, and I think you still are, even after a year and a half of you lying in a hospital." Clint begins to cry as the monitor starts slowing.

"I need you, always, and even when you're gone and don't need me anymore I will still need you, still love you. I'll always love you, no matter what," Clint cries harder as the monitor nearly stops.

"Natasha Romanoff, I love you so much. You're my forever, my partner, my best friend, my everything. I need you here. Please, Nat. Please," Clint begs. But still, the monitor eventually comes to a stop. He stays there for a few moments more, sobbing, listening to the sound of nothing. She didn't wake up. She didn't win her fight.

"I love you Nat," he says, and then stands up and leaves, but this time, he's not coming back.


	4. Always and Forever

**Very sad, very short. WARNING: DO NOT READ IF OVERLY EMOTIONAL**

It was all over. Everything. New York was in ruins, and Thor, Tony, and Bruce were dead. In Natasha's arms was the great Captain America, and he was dying too. Nat couldn't find Clint. He was gone, but she somehow knew he was alive. Somewhere. Maybe he was safe. Whines clouded the air as bombs dropped. Natasha's tears were slowly dropping onto the face of Captain, who managed a smile and a few broken, blood-soaked words.

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he's left us," Captain said, and Natasha noticed it to be a version of one of the first things he had ever said to her. With that, Steve Roger's head fell to the side and his eyes went dull. Natasha pressed a kiss to his bloody forehead, forced to leave him behind, where he had sacrificed himself for Natasha, holding his shield over her head as debris fell, and then he got hit.

"Natasha!" Clint. He _was_ alive! Natasha ran to him, crying hard, hugging the man with the hawk's eyes, the empty quiver, and the broken bow in his hand. "It's okay, Nat," Clint says, pressing a kiss to her hair, and hissing when she touched a nasty cut running from his ear to his chin.

"It's not okay! Everyone is gone! Cap is dead, Bruce is dead, Tony is dead, and Thor died too, Clint! We're the last two! And we're not making it out of here alive, are we?" Nat looked up at the man she had grown to love, but never told. Why? Because she was _scared,_ because she didn't want it to be _awkward._ And now they were going to die without her ever knowing if maybe he loved her too.

"Natasha, I am not leaving you, I promise. We began the happiest part of our lives together, and that's how it should all end. With us, together. Because I love you, Natasha Romanoff. I love you. I always have, I always will." Clint says, and kisses her just how she had wanted him to for so long.

"I love you too, Clint Barton. Always and forever." They kissed again, and another high-pitched whine sounded as a bomb fell right above their head. When the smoke cleared, Clint and Natasha were nowhere to be seen.


	5. Backup

**Natasha needs backup, Clint isn't there. (For a reader without an account, the one who requested a little something like this. You left a comment on both my first and second chapters, you know who you are.)**

Gunfire. Lots of gunfire. Natasha was on a solo mission without Clint, because Fury was mad at him right now. No surprise there—Clint had snuck up into the vents at SHIELD and when Fury walked by, Clint dropped a pie on his head, covering the director in apple pie and ruining his eye patch. So Natasha had been sent on a mission without her partner who was also, unbeknownst to Director Fury, her boyfriend of two years.

It was supposed to be a simple mission, just a quick slip into a building nearby Stark Tower and she'd steal a disk with Hydra information. She wished Clint had been there, silently taking down anyone who might walk into the room, protecting his Nat as she worked. But he wasn't and therefore, she hadn't gotten to a guard before he pulled the alarm. Now she was behind a desk and shooting at the three guards who were still alive out of the eleven who answered the alarm.

She took down the first two with no problem whatsoever but the third one got hit in the chest and was still alive when he went down. Natasha had the disk in her hand and so she figured she had the time to make an escape through the window, as they were only on the second floor. But when she stood and made it to the window, she turned to do one final sweep of the wreckage to make sure she didn't leave anything behind, and that was when the guard who was still alive lifted his gun and shot her in the ribcage, just below her heart.

Nat muffled her own scream, knowing she had to leave now as she definitely could not fend off another round of guards in this condition. She leapt out the window and, despite her injury, managed to land silently with only a grunt. Natasha reached up to her ear to use her com to call for a medic, but it wasn't there. _Crap._

 _Stark Tower is a block and a half away,_ Natasha thought to herself. _And it's two in the morning, so there shouldn't be any civilian interference. Stark Tower it is._ With that final thought, she began dragging herself miserably to Tony's massive home where she knew her boyfriend would be, ready to catch her when she fell, as she was for him. Most of the time, that was metaphorically, but with the blood Nat could feel seeping through her suit, she doubted the metaphorical sense of this situation.

Natasha got immersed in her thoughts as to block out the pain, and it apparently worked quite well as she was at Stark Tower in what seemed like seconds, but that could be the shock and adrenaline kicking in. She stumbled through the double doors.

"Jarvis," she wheezed, "Call Clint Barton to the lobby, tell him it's Natasha and it's an emergency." Natasha told Jarvis, or what Thor called the "computerized butler."

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff. Would you like me to call Dr. Banner as well? I'm afraid it appears you're not well," Jarvis replied.

"N-o," Natasha began to cough. "Just Clint. Just my Clint." The world started dipping and swaying beneath her feet. She focused on staying awake, and was struggling so much that by the time the elevator doors opened, she was about to pass out, but forced herself to become more alert so that Clint didn't absolutely freak out, she needed him to stay calm.

The elevator opened with a ding and out walked Clint in nothing but sweatpants, rubbing his eyes. "What the hell, Nat, I was sleeping," he said, but when he saw her bloodied figure he stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh my f!cking God, Nat!" Clint rushed over and caught her just as her knees buckled. "You're going to be okay, Natasha. Baby, I'm going to take care of you!" Clint said, scooping her up in his arms and making a mad dash for the elevators. "Jarvis, call Dr. Banner, NOW! Tell him Nat's been shot, tell him to meet us in the lab, ASAP!" Clint practically screamed to the AI.

"Cl…" Nat began to say, but then she lost consciousness altogether.

"No, Nat, stay with me. Stay with me, baby," Clint said, but she was already asleep.

Natasha woke up to the feeling of soft sheets and someone definitely in the room. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around. She was in her room of Stark Towers, well it was technically The Avengers Tower now, but she hadn't called it that yet.

She had one of Clint's hugely baggy tshirts on, but underneath she could feel a massive bandage wrapping her abdomen. Speaking of Clint, she turned her head to the left, and Clint was sitting in a chair by her bed, head in his hands, shoulders shaking.

Natasha opened her mouth and tried to speak, but her tongue felt swollen. Still she managed a single word. "Hi," she croaked, and Clint's head shot up.

"Nat," he breathed out, before standing up and coming to sit by her side, facing her on the bed. "I'm so sorry, baby, this was all my fault. If I hadn't pranked Fury then I would have been there to protect you. I _should_ have been there to protect you." Clint rambles, obviously beating himself up over the whole thing.

"It's not your fault, now kiss me, idiot!" Natasha forced out, and Clint smiled a half-ass smile and kissed the girl whom he loved so much. Only a very familiar voice sounding from the doorway broke them apart.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Director Fury. They were screwed.

"How long has this been going on?" Natasha could hear the two men whisper-shouting at each other just outside of her room.

"Just under two years," Clint says, and Nat can almost _see_ him rolling his eyes when Fury begins to scold him.

"With all due respect, Fury, I really think you should let this slide, you know, seeing as it's your fault Natasha got shot in the first place." Clint replies indignantly.

"How is that?" Fury is clearly struggling to keep his fury under wraps. **(AN: see what I did there? I'd be** ** _furious_** **if you didn't)**

"If you'd just let the whole pie thing slide, I would have been there to protect my Nat," Clint argues.

Director Fury sighs. "I guess it's okay, so long as you act professionally in the workplace and don't let this compromise your ability to complete missions."

Nat swears she could hear the smile in Clint's voice as he agrees. "Deal," he says.


	6. Awake

**Quick, drabble length Clintasha one-shot. Wrote it at 2am after a terrible nightmare, so sorry if it only makes sense to me and those of you who live in my mind. Basically, Clint is only "awake" when his world is as it should be, just to clarify. Love you all, leave reviews, favorites, and follows!**

 **Question for the review: Who is your favorite Avenger?**

 **My answer: Nat(Black Widow)**

Clint felt as though he had not been awake for a very long time. Ever since Loki had taken control of the archer's mind, Clint had felt half asleep.

Half asleep ever since the first night after the invasion and Natasha slept on the couch instead of in his arms and Clint knew it was because she was scared.

Half asleep ever since he'd fallen asleep and woken up alone every night and day because Nat was still on the couch and still scared.

Half asleep ever since his Nat flinched every time the gentle-minded archer got within a foot of the redhead.

Half asleep ever since Natasha woke up from a terrible nightmare on the couch and Clint ran to her, only for her to scream, "No! Please don't hurt me!" as she looked into his eyes. She afterwards tried to make him believe she thought he was from the Red Room, but Clint knew that she saw him and was scared of him, and that hurt worse than hearing her scream in the middle of long nights, because back then Clint was allowed to wrap his arms around her tiny frame, back then he was allowed to love her and she was allowed to let him.

But now, just in this moment, Clint Barton had never been more awake, because he had opened his eyes only to be met with locks of scarlet red and his Natasha's bare back.

And he had been awake ever since last night when his Nat let him hold her once again, after two long months of her on the couch. He was wide awake, because Nat was back where she belonged. In their bed. In his arms.

 **Just so you know, a lot of my one-shots might be around this size for right now, because I'm going through something but I still want to keep uploading, so I'll try. Love you all, messages in my inbox and requests/cute reviews always make my day.**

 **-Leah xx**


	7. I Got Him

**Quick drabble from this scene in the Avengers, told from Clint's eyes. Hope this makes sense!**

"Hawkeye!" Natasha called out, her voice ringing into the earpiece in Clint's ear. He saw his person, his Nat, the person no one was allowed to hurt, holding on for dear life as she tried to steer an alien ship up to Stark's roof to help with the battle. That, however, was not the problem. The problem was the fact that Loki was currently shooting at Natasha, and the look on her face was one of pure fear.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint questioned, sure that his girl was going crazy because she was, oh, I don't know, _steering an alien ship_?! But Clint had to believe that the world was simply becoming that crazy.

"Uh, a little help!" Natasha requested, and of course Clint obliged, because of course he'd keep her safe, his Natasha was the one person who's life mattered more to Clint than his own.

Activating his bow, Clint grabbed an exploding arrow from his quickly diminishing supply, nocked it, aimed, and smiled.

"I got him," he said, and the smile was because he knew he did. He knew he could protect her, and that felt so good, mainly because he couldn't protect her when it was Clint himself attacking her, he hadn't been able to do anything because Loki was controlling the archer's mind. But dammit if Clint was ever, _ever_ going to let that son of a bitch Loki get anywhere near his Nat again.

Clint fired the arrow, and Loki caught it inches from his jugular with a smile, but the last laugh was truly Clint's because the second Loki smiled, the thing exploded in his hand, throwing the demigod from his jet thingy and away from the girl Clint was always going to be there to protect.

 **Leave reviews for free digital hugs! Much love, sorry they've been short recently.**

 **-Leah xx**


	8. Sick

_"_ Ugh _!"_ A loud noise woke Natasha from her surprisingly nightmare-less sleep.

"What the-" Nat turned over towards Clint, expecting the motion to be tough, because when she had fallen asleep Clint had had his arms around her, and whenever that happened, he held on so tight that Nat was always afraid he'd suffocate her in her sleep.

But this time, she rolled over to an empty bed and noises coming from their bathroom adjoining the bedroom.

Reaching for the handgun Clint made her keep in the nightstand on her side of the bed, she whisper-shouted for her boyfriend, to see if that was an intruder or her boyfriend.

"Clint?"

"Baby," came an agitated groan from the bathroom, a cracking voice that was definitely Clint.

 _Was he hurt? Had he fallen or had someone broken in? Had-_ Another noise broke through her thoughts, a noise that sounded a lot like that time Clint drank too much and then vomited all night long.

Natasha stood up, placing the handgun back in the drawer, and edging her way into the bathroom. She peeked around and almost laughed at the sight before her.

The great Hawkeye, the I-never-need-anyone's-help Clint Barton was keeled over the toilet puking his guts out. Natasha shouldn't have laughed, it wasn't funny, but actually it was because Clint was so independent and here he was, obviously needing a helping hand.

"Hey, baby," Clint gave Natasha a sickly half smile, and she let out a small giggle. "Shut up," he rolled his eyes, but suddenly retched again and turned back to the toilet to puke again.

"Poor baby," Nat said, and moved over to her boyfriend, gently rubbing his back. While he was not actually actively vomiting, Natasha headed into the kitchen and grabbed a massive pot and placed it by Clint's side of the bed. She brought with the pot a tiny thing of saltine crackers for when Clint woke up in the morning with an empty stomach, and a water bottle for the headache she knew he'd also get.

"Come on, Clint," Nat said when she returned to the bathroom, and helped him up. His arm around her shoulders was how he leaned all his weight on her, and he's all sweaty and gross. "I'm gonna take care of you, okay?" Nat says, easing him into the bed and climbing in next to him.

He nods, and leans his head on Natasha's shoulder, murmuring a quiet, "Thank you," accompanied by a softer "I love you," as Natasha runs her tiny hand through his dirty blonde hair.

"I love you too, Clint," she smiles, ready for a long night of his illness, and ready to look after him like she knew he always would for her.

 **HEY! So you all seem like cool people, follow me on twitter(KupKakeLeah) and Instagram( ), and tweet/comment something cool on my profile for a follow back! Also, check my profile for something cool! Hint: how to get me to see stuff**

 **-Leah xx**


	9. Simple

**Hey guys, sorry but my Grandad was just admitted to the hospital and we don't think he'll be leaving alive, so I was spending time with him today and only have a few short ones ready to be published. Leave a review! Love you all!**

Natasha knew that her life was not so simple. She knew that the fact that she loved Clint made it forever more complicated. Natasha knew many things, in fact she had to know most things because she was the Black Widow and the Black Widow could not make mistakes. She had an unbreakable body of armor, but the great Hawkeye was her one weakness. Her life was not simple.

The one simple thing, her one constant, was Clint and the fact that his arms were around her right now. She had no idea how long she had left, she could be sent on a mission and be dead in two days. Her life was now where simple.

"I love you," Clint murmured as he started waking up from his deep sleep. She had been up for hours, contemplating simplicity. His grayish-blue eyes opened with one of his gentlest smiles and he pulled the redhead closer to his bare chest.

This was simple. This was two people forever in love, legs tangled together as early morning sunlight began to stream in their bedroom window. This was all Natasha needed, a smile on her face as her lovely boyfriend pressed his lips to her forehead, whispering sweet things as he played with her scarlet locks.

All the fear, all the nightmares, all the trauma pressing on the minds of the two bodies in the lilac sheets was washed away by the new day, the sunlight cleansing their scarred, bruised figures.

This was the simplest form of anything Natasha had ever known, and she wouldn't trade it for anything.


	10. Cry

Natasha did not cry back in the Red Room. She did not cry during any of her nightmares. She did not cry during any of her very painful interrogation experiences. Not once did she cry.

She did not cry fighting aliens with Clint. She did not cry when he was hurt. She did not cry when he had to go into surgery. She did not cry when the doctor came out with an apology on his lips and sadness in his eyes. She did not cry when she was dressed in black as they lowered the one man she'd ever loved into the ground. She did not cry when telling her two-year-old daughter that Daddy wasn't going to be coming home.

She did not cry. She did not cry walking into the room she shared with Clint and it was just as messy as when he was alive four days before. She did not cry until she picked up a box behind his underwear drawer and lifted the lid, only to find an arrow with the words _The arrow I never fired._ Beneath the arrow was a note.

 _Natasha,_

 _It's Clint. I got this for you a while back, and I figured you would find it if I ever were to die. But only if. This arrow you hold is the one I had nocked in my bow when I decided not to kill you. This is the arrow that started us._

 _I love you Nat, always. And make sure to take care of Rose for me, and there's a letter here for her too. I love you so so much, please don't forget me. I want you to be happy, I really do. I have to go, you're about to come in for bed and I have to hide this. I'll always love you, you are my sunshine. I love you Nat. You're my Tasha, you always will be._

 _Love you madly,_

 _Clint_

And Natasha cried.


	11. We're Going to Be Okay

**Requested by: Melody Jenna Plumber.**

 **To Melody:**

 **Is this kind of what you wanted? If not, I'm happy to write something else for you!**

 **To all Viewers:**

 **Hey! Leave a review because you're awesome and stuff, and also follow me on Instagram and comment something adorable for a follow back! Reviews=digital hugs.**

 **On with the chapter!**

It was how it had always been. They were fighting side by side, Nat occasionally scanning the scene for pedestrians and Barton covering her as she did so. It was the great battle against the Chitauri, and Natasha shot down another alien, still in disbelief, because here she was, shooting at actual aliens.

"It's like Budapest all over again!" Nat laughed, and turned to see Clint's reaction to her obviously false statement. He looked at her with a smile on his face, no doubt about to say something witty but probably rude.

He never got the chance, because the second he turned there was a wet noise and a grunt came from Clint's open mouth. Natasha's eyes trailed down.

"No!" she shouted, and rapidly killed all the surrounding aliens. One of the alien spears was embedded in Clint's abdomen, and he fell backward, seemingly in slow motion. Nat made it over to him just as he hit the deck, and she pulled his head onto her lap, activating the com link in her ear. "Hawkeye is down! Get a medic in here NOW!" She screamed into the earpiece. "Don't you dare die on me, Clint! You are NOT allowed to die!" she told him, and he nodded weakly.

"Okay, baby," he murmured drowsily.

Her com link clicked on. "Agent Romanoff, please move Agent Barton to a more open location in order for MediVac to come pick you up," a sterile, cold voice said.

"Open loca-what? What do you mean by open location?" Nat practically sobbed into the com link.

"A roof, perhaps?" the voice said. A roof. Right. Looking behind the two of them, she saw a building with what seemed to be a working elevator and the door blown off. Hooking her arms underneath his armpits, Natasha began dragging Clint towards the elevator, trying to ignore the moans of pain coming from the archer. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she got the wounded man to the elevator within forty seconds. Pressing the up button, she waited, shooting at an alien or two and they rode by the building, luckily none spotted the two people by the elevator, and before she knew it, the elevator doors were closing with her hand on the "R" button, signaling it would take them to the roof.

Another ding was heard as the doors opened, and she quickly dragged her bleeding partner out on the roof. Switching on her com link, she said "We're on the roof, medic!" And waited. And waited. Finally she heard the sounds of a chopper coming in from behind, and sure enough, it was the SHIELD MediVac.

"You're going to be okay, Clint. See? The doctors are here," she shook Hawkeye's shoulder lightly.

"Mm, that's good, that's good." He croaked.

"You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay," she said.

 **Like I said, review for digital hugs, and follow me on Instagram( )! Love you all!**

 **-Leah xx**


	12. A Rainbow of Firsts

**Here is a firsts list of Clintasha moments, leave a review with your favorite color moments, and I might do an extended version of the top one or two!**

Red. Natasha's hair was red as it tumbled down her shoulders the first night Clint saw her.

Orange. The setting sun was a bright orange on the horizon the first time Nat and Clint kissed.

Yellow. The dress of the other girl was yellow the first time Natasha got jealous over Clint.

Green. Natasha's eyes were green, so beautiful the first time that Clint really, truly knew he loved her more than anything he'd ever known.

Blue. Clint's eyes were an unnatural blue before Natasha gave him "cognitive recalibration" because for the first time she realized she couldn't live without him.

Indigo. Indigo was the color of the flower in Nat's hair the first time she cried happy tears, at their wedding.

Purple. They were laying in purple sheets when Nat pulled out a positive pregnancy test.

Their relationship's most defining moments had come in a rainbow of colors.

 **A bit of context:**

 **This was an idea I'd originally had for my best friend Luke, but that one was going to be a lot sadder as he is no longer with us, so I modified the structure to fit Clintasha.**

 **Comment your favorite color from the list above and the two with the most favorites will be turned into a longer one-shot featuring just the moment listed in that color! Make sense? Good.**

 **-Leah xx**

 **(IG= leah . penguin (just ignore the spaces, this website is being weird)**

 **Twitter= Kupkakeleah)**


	13. Red

**Everyone wanted different colors, so I've decided to just upload all the colors. Some will be long, others pretty short, but all deserve a review and a favorite, if not for the rainbow then do it for me! Love you all!**

Natasha's hair was red as it tumbled down her shoulders the first night Clint saw her.

FLASHBACK*

 _"Agent Barton, this is your target. Track her and kill her." Director Fury told the young agent._

 _Agent Barton picked up the file._

 _NAME: The Black Widow_

 _LAST SEEN: Just outside of Moscow_

 _MISSION: Eliminate the Widow_

 _Beneath all the information was a picture of a beautiful girl, in black and white._

FLASHBACK END*

Agent Barton pulled back his bowstring, expertly aiming, lying in wait for the second the Black Widow walked beneath the window where the Agent was stationed.

It took a good twenty minutes, but finally she walked by, apparently tracing her next target. She stopped, aiming at the man she'd been watching. Agent Barton was taken aback by her beauty, her long red curls that almost made her look like a school girl.

She had a pistol in her hand and her aim was perfect, one shot clear through his head. Agent Barton knew that what he had heard about her was true, about her ability to kill without any emotion, and knew that he would sleep easily tonight.

But then he saw her hands shake, and the man in the window across from Agent Barton, a sniper rifle in his hands and he was aiming at the Black Widow. He was apparently speaking into a com link, and Agent Barton thanked God for his ability to read lips.

"Pull the trigger, or I will," Sniper Man said. Black Widow wasn't emotionless, just terrified. With a quick change of heart, Agent Barton released the arrow, but it didn't hit the Black Widow, or her mark. It hit the man in the window across from himself, and Agent Barton ran around to the ground level.

He couldn't kill her, something inside of him told him that she was good, that despite the fact that her hair was the color of her ledger, she still had a chance to wipe her ledger clean.

 **-Leah xx**


	14. Orange

**The setting sun was a bright orange on the horizon the first time Nat and Clint kissed.**

"Hey, Nat, come out here!" Clint called from the balcony of their hotel room. They were in Budapest—they'd just flown in for a mission, and Nat was inside double-checking their gear before they started tracking their mark early tomorrow morning.

"What, Clint?" Natasha said as she padded, barefoot, onto the balcony where Clint stood, gazing at the setting sun.

"Look," he angled towards the sun. It was beautiful, the orange orb sending its brilliance out into the misty clouds surrounding it.

"Wow," Nat murmured. "Have you ever seen something so beautiful?" she asked. Clint smiled.

 _Of course I have,_ he thought to himself.

"Yes," he gave her a sh!t-eating grin.

She shook her head at him, laughing. "What could possibly be more beautiful than this?" Nat wondered aloud.

He froze. _Do I tell her? I can't tell her, it's so stupid and corny and she'd probably hate it, I mean this is Nat. Not some random girl who falls for any cheesy line, this is Nat, the girl with the emotional armor of steel and the unbreakable mask. She'd probably laugh at me. Ah, screw it._

"You," Clint murmured, almost too quiet for her to hear.

"What was that?" Natasha asked him. He knew she'd heard him, but probably thought she heard wrong.

"You," Clint said a little loud. She tore her eyes from the beautiful sunset long enough to give him a look of shock.

 _Well, I'm going to hell anyway,_ Clint thought, and stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and he pressed his lips to hers.

She kissed him back. They kissed for a good minute, before breaking apart and leaving their foreheads touching.

"I suppose I've seen something more beautiful as well," Nat says softly.

"What?" Clint smiles.

"Us,"


	15. Yellow

**The dress of the other girl was yellow the first time Natasha got jealous over Clint.**

Anthony Edward Stark was going to die, Natasha would make sure of it. He had blackmail on each avenger, something from the night they'd all gotten drunk and done a cover of One Direction's _Steal My Girl_. That shit was normal for Tony, but not for Nat and Clint, or Bruce, Steve, and Thor. He'd threatened to upload it if the Avengers did not attend the gala Tony was throwing.

So here Natasha was, in a floor length strapless green gown, looking fabulous, but watching her boyfriend openly flirt with another girl on the other side of the ballroom. It was a blonde with creepily huge blue eyes and a yellow skintight dress on that was so short Natasha had originally mistaken it for a tshirt.

With a huff, Natasha brushed a wave of red hair from her eyes and grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray, downing it in one gulp. "Is tonight not to your liking, Lady Natasha?" an Asgardian voice boomed from behind the redhead.

"Hi, Thor," she greeted the blonde with a smile. His hair was down to his shoulders, and he looked dashing in his tuxedo. "It seems my boyfriend has certainly taken a _liking,_ " she strained the word Thor had just put on the table. "To that blonde over there," Natasha said with a sneer.

"If Friend Barton is with you, my Lady, then why is he courting that other missus?" Thor questioned. Natasha almost laughed.

"That is the question, Thor," she sighed. "That is the question,"

After several minutes, the blonde seemed to have excused herself to go to the ladies room, and Natasha pounced. "Hello, Barton," she greeted coolly. To anyone else, it would have seemed like a habit, he was her partner after all, but Clint knew that Natasha only called him Barton when she was mad at him or they were on a mission, and only the former was only remotely possible.

He lifted an eyebrow at Nat, and still she didn't speak. "You look lovely tonight, Nat," he offered, taking a sip of his champagne, and that most definitely got her talking.

"So does that sleazy blonde, apparently," Natasha muttered under her breath, and Clint choked on his champagne.

"W-What?" he stuttered out, after spitting the gold liquid back into his glass rather than on his and Natasha's shoes.

"Don't even try, Barton, I saw you two getting all up close and personal," Natasha huffed, and Clint almost smiled. Natasha never got jealous, never got worked up over anything, and that had always made him feel as if he cared more for her than she him.

"Are you- are you jealous?" he asked, and Nat looked taken aback.

"What? NO!" she exclaimed, and Clint chuckled. "Shut up," she slapped his arm, causing him to laugh harder. "It's not funny!"

"Come here," he opened his arms to the fiery little redhead, who reluctantly hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You are the only woman I have ever and will ever love, okay?" he mumbled into her hair.

"Good," she replied, "Because if you ever cheated on me I'd cut off your balls and shove them down your throat," which caused Clint to laugh. "I'm dead serious, Barton," she said.

Clint stopped laughing.

 **YAY! Clintasha fluff also known as classic Nat and adorable Clint. Of course, I have a reason for what happens in this one- I listened to Andy Grammer's Honey I'm Good while writing it, and lord knows how many different one-shots I could base off that song.**

 **Guys, you all NEED to listen to the song New York by The Boxer Rebellion, I'm so obsessed, and idk it's kind of Clintasha. For anyone who has read my profile, follow me on twitter/instagram, because I will be sending DM's/PM's full of love all night for those of you who do. Just tweet/comment at me telling me you read my book and you'll find one in your inbox!**

 **Leave a review! Next chapter will go up once this one gets 2 reviews, so get to it because the next one is hella cute! Love you all!**

 **-Leah xx**


	16. Green

**Natasha's eyes were green, so beautiful the first time that Clint really, truly knew he loved her more than anything he'd ever known.**

 **(this is the morning before Yellow)**

Oh my God, she was so beautiful. So, so beautiful. Clint had just woken, and his day was off to the best possible start—he'd woken up to the sleeping face of his girlfriend, Natasha. She was so perfect, so flawless in every way. With hair the color of rubies and lips so red that she never needed lipstick, Natasha was the most amazing thing Clint had ever seen. Her eyes, which were currently closed, were the most unbelievably perfect shade of green, like staring into a forest of new life. When she laughed, they twinkled with flecks of gold, like shimmering kaleidoscopes of perfection.

 _God, I love her more than anything._ Clint thought. Nothing meant more to him than his Natasha, he realized. Nothing. Every night he went to bed without her by his side, he never slept well, if at all. When he woke up in the morning and saw her, all he knew was that she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. The way that she talked sounded better than the music Thor brought down from Asgard, the CDs of angels singing. The way Natasha smiled looked like the perfect sunset, like the one on the day the two had had their first kiss. Every time she was in a good mood, it reminded him of that day, the day that they began. The second best day of his life, save for the day he'd met her.

With a small sigh, green eyes opened, looking into his blue ones. A heavenly smile graced her lips. "Hey," she giggled, and he murmured a greeting in response.

"I love you, you know," he told her with a smile. "So much,"

"I know," she replied. "I love you too,"

They lay in silence for a few moments, Natasha snuggling close to Clint and him cuddling her to his chest.

"Well, we need to get up now, we've got all that paperwork _and_ the gala Tony wants us to attend tonight," Natasha says. "By the way, will you help me murder him tomorrow?" she asked.

"Of course I will, baby," he laughs, sitting up as she does. "Of course I will,"

 **Hey! Thanks for 4,000 views, that's so, so insane! This is simply mindblowing! Btw, 4 reviews=I can upload the next chapter, it might take a bit but if there is less than 4 it won't go up at all. I'm sorry about all this, what with having a certain amount of reviews to get a new chapter. It's just the fact that I have 4,000 views and only 1 or 2 reviews on each chapter, so it just does not make sense.**

 **-Leah xx**


	17. Blue

**Clint's eyes were an unnatural blue before Natasha gave him "cognitive recalibration" because for the first time she realized she couldn't live without him.**

Ouch. Clint really knew how to fight. But Natasha already knew that, so no surprise there. Grabbing his head, she slammed his head against the poles and for a moment his eyes went back to their normal grayish-blue color, instead of that unnatural, technological blue. "Tasha?" he said. And then they flickered back to that wrong color, so she did what any logical person would do.

She punched him in the face as hard as she could.

Natasha sat by Clint's bedside for a good half hour, staring at his face. God, she loved him so much. When Phil told her that her Barton had been compromised, it was as if everything she had come to care for had become ice, thin, easy to break. But now, Clint was here, and as far as Natasha knew he was probably back to his old self, the old Clint she was so in love with.

Nat knew she was Clint's person, the one thing he couldn't live without. She had always been scared that she would act on an adrenaline rush, tell him the same, and then later on realize she didn't mean it. Of course she loved him, but loving someone and not being able to live without someone are not the same thing. Loving someone is a step down from not being able to live without them, and hell, Natasha had always believed she'd never even be capable of love, so she was more than cautious about taking it a step further.

But today had confirmed it for her, she literally could not survive without her Clint in her life, she needed and loved him. "God, I love you so much," she said to the sleeping form of her boyfriend. "I really do,"

But really, who would believe that the Black Widow needed the superhero archer to survive? It didn't make sense, _they_ didn't make sense, but Clint was the one thing the great Black Widow did not need to understand to trust or love.

 **Sorry it's shitty, I'm having trouble writing these days, which is the reason my uploads have been few and far between.**

 **-Leah xx**


	18. Indigo

**Indigo was the color of the flower in Nat's hair the first time she cried happy tears, at their wedding.**

"Do you, Natasha Romanoff, take Clint Barton to be your husband?" Steve asked. Who knew he was actually certified to marry people? Although, really, she shouldn't be surprised. Their wedding was small, just Coulson's team, the Avengers, Fury, Hill, Pepper, and a few random SHIELD agents.

Natasha's maid of honor was Pepper, of course, and her other bridesmaids were Hill, Skye, and May.

Phil Coulson and Director Fury shared the title of best man for Clint, as Clint had wanted it to be Coulson but Fury had said, "If your little motherfucking wedding doesn't motherfucking include me as motherfucking best man, I will motherfucking fire your ass, Barton," and then he had said, "Motherfucking congratulations," with a smile, but then he felt the need to also say, "I'm motherfucking serious," when Clint had relaxed. So a compromise had to be made.

"I do," said Natasha.

 _God, I love him so much. Everything about him is perfect._ She thought to herself.

"And do you, Clint Barton, take Natasha Romanoff to be your wife?" Steve asked the archer.

"I do," he said.

 _God, I love her so much. Everything about her is perfect._ He thought to himself.

"By the power vested in me, I declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," Steve said. Without hesitation, Clint pressed his lips softly to Natasha's, so much like the first time they kissed.

He stroked her hair softly, brushing past the beautiful indigo flower tucked behind Nat's ear, and a single tear slipped from each of Natasha's eyes, but for the first time, they were because she was happy.

They were happy.


	19. Purple

Today was the day that Natasha wanted to tell Clint. The perfect lead up to the moment had definitely been last night. They'd watched a movie, had hot chocolate and then curled up, drinking the cocoa until they fell asleep, mugs sitting on their respective bedside tables.

However, in the drawer of Nat's table was a little stick that had Natasha had peed on, and it had a little plus sign on it.

"Morning," she murmured as Clint's eyes fluttered open and he smiled, pulling the purple sheets and quilt up to his chin, as tonight was Christmas Eve and it was cold in their apartment.

"Good morning," he replied, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.

"So, I have an early Christmas present for you, I was going to give it to you tomorrow morning but should you open one of the other gifts first, it wouldn't have made sense." Nat says, and Clint's brow wrinkles in confusion.

"Just, wait a moment." Natasha hesitantly says, rolling over and pulling a small purple box with the stick in it out of the drawer. She turned back to Clint.

"What is this?" he smiles.

"Open it," Nat quips.

He lifts the lid off the box, and for a second, confusion clouds his features. Then, a smile larger than Asgard breaks the cloud and he all but squeals. "You're pregnant?!" He sits up very quickly, and so does Nat. "I- we're- you're- WE'RE HAVING A BABY?!" All Nat can do is smile and nod, speechless at his hilarious, adorable reaction.

Right now, she was really glad she had decided to set up a camera in the corner of the room, filming this very moment.

"We're gonna be a family," Clint whispered, tears starting to pool in his eyes. He pulled Natasha to him, kissing the top of her head.

When they pulled away from the hug, Clint leaned down, pressing a kiss to Natasha's stomach and whispering to it.

"Hey, little man—or baby girl, I don't know yet, either way. If you're a boy, you better be a momma's boy, because we gotta stick together and protect your mom. I promise to teach you how to play catch and pick up girls." He pauses for breath.

"If you're a girl, you better be daddy's little girl, because I am going to be so excited to now have my queen and a little princess. And you're going to have Auntie Pepper, Auntie Skye, Auntie Gemma, Auntie May and Auntie Maria to help Mommy teach you about being a lady, and you'll have all your uncles to protect you always, especially Uncle Nick, or Fury, I don't know what he's going to want you to call him. You're not just gonna have a family, you're going to have a village, little one, whether you're a boy or girl," Clint says, and Natasha and her husband lay back down, falling back asleep.

This time, Clint's hand rested on Nat's stomach.


	20. Jealous

"And that isn't even the weirdest story, but the craziest stories are probably inappropriate!" Nat laughed. She was at a SHIELD fundraiser with Clint and Tony, who had come with Pepper. Clint was Natasha's date, but she had made a bet with Tony that she would raise more money than he would, so she had abandoned Clint at the doorway.

Natasha was currently flirting the money out of a man with a wallet the size of Jupiter. "Well, I'm going to go write a big fat check on that donation table, and maybe you'll be more willing to share!" The man laughs, walking off.

Fixing her skintight mid-thigh length red dress, Natasha brushed back a red curl and made sure she was standing perfectly straight. She liked to always look calm and collected, even though she felt as if she had swam through mud what with the way that man had been looking at her.

Clint, on the other hand, was not calm. Not calm was an understatement, he was furious, he was enraged, he was… jealous. Very jealous, which was a first. He'd watched his Nat flirt with that man, that man who looked at her like a piece of meat, and then just brush it off like it didn't bother her. Maybe it didn't.

Jealousy got the best of Clint, and he headed over to Natasha. "Really?" he asked, and she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What?"

"Did you seriously just flirt with him? Did you not see the way he was looking at you?" Clint exclaimed. Natasha rolled her eyes. Dragging Clint out of the main banquet room and into the foyer, she could almost stab him with a spoon at his stupidity.

"You should know me well enough to know that I saw it, Clint," Natasha's voice stays even and calm, the exact opposite of her boyfriend's.

"Did you care?!" Clint all but shouts.

"Of course, I did, I've just learned not to show it," Nat replies, still keeping her voice sterile. "W-wait, are you jealous?!" Natasha almost laughs, and Clint freezes.

"No," Natasha glares at him. "Maybe," more glaring. "Yes." He muttered.

"Awww," Natasha laughs.

"It's not funny," Clint rolls his eyes, but hugs her anyway.

"Why do we always get so jealous at parties like these? I mean, there was that time at the Avengers gala and now here," Natasha wonders.

"I don't know, but we seriously need to figure it out, maybe… at home?" Clint murmurs in her ear, and with a smile she nods, pulling him out to the car, and the rest is history.


	21. Princess

"Hey, Princess," Clint murmurs to his 2-week-old daughter. He's in the rocking chair with his daughter, Zoe. She and Natasha were let out of the hospital last week, and Zoe has had a hard settling down. She had just calmed down from an absolute screaming fit, not just regular crying, actual fierce screaming.

"I know you're young and all, but Mummy and I are tired, my little angel. You need to scream less, please. That's probably ridiculous to ask of you, but you're my Zoe, you're amazing and smart and beautiful and you've got amazing blue eyes, Princess, and the beginnings of red curls on your head," Clint says, smiling as the tiny human in his arms yawned, and he kissed her tiny nose.

"God, you look so much like my Tasha, you know. You've got my eyes, but her hair, and I'm positive you'll adopt her attitude and butt-kicking abilities too. The first two-year-old master assassin," he chuckles. "You're going to be so amazing,"

"You've got so many aunts! Aunt Pepper and Aunt Maria and Skye and Bobbie and Jemma and Melinda," he pauses for breath, sure he forgot an aunt, "And uncles too, Uncle Fury and Uncle Phil and Tony and Bruce and Thor and Steve and Leo and Mack and Hunter," he laughed, sure he forgot an uncle too.

"You won't have just a family, you'll have a village and you can grow up at the SHIELD agency and the Bus, that'd be awesome," Clint realized his daughter had fallen back asleep. Standing, he placed her back in her crib.

"Goodnight, Princess,"


	22. Because

**Short love drabble between Clint and Nat, no dialogue, all monologue. Leave a review for a digital hug and maybe some love in your inbox!**

Clint loved her so much. He loved her because she smiled so rarely but when she did she looked so beautiful. Because her hair was red. Because she could fend for herself. Because sometimes she couldn't fend for herself. Because she was so strong. Because sometimes she was not strong at all. Because she literally did not function without caffeine in the morning, not by choice. Because she could prank everyone, even Stark. Because she could fight him and win. Because she was someone with a terrible past and she was still a person capable of having a sort of normal life, for a super spy. Because she was a super spy. Because of Budapest. Because he'd made a different call. Because her first name was Natasha. Because her last name was Romanoff. Because she was Natasha Romanoff.

Natasha loved him so much. She loved him because he smiled all the time but only some of the time it was real, and most of those times were with Natasha. Because he had the bluest of eyes. Because he was so capable of protecting himself physically. Because he could do nothing to protect himself emotionally. Because he was so quick to look out for her on missions. Because he was so quick to defend her. Because he gave the best hugs. Because he only hugged her. Because his lips tasted like peppermint. Because he smelled like cologne and sweat and cedar like the wood of his bow and something distinctly Clint. Because he had such a terrible past and he was still such a good person. Because of Budapest. Because he'd made a different call. Because his first name was Clint. Because his last name was Barton. Because he was Clint Barton.

 **Leave a review for free pineapple!**

 **-Leah xx**


	23. Hot Chocolate

**Totally random fix drabble. Leave a review on here for free food!**

Whimpering from Natasha. Soft whispers from Clint "Baby, wake up," he murmurs. More whimpering. "Baby please," he says a little louder. She continues to toss and turn and tears began to stream down her face. "Nat!" he says, and finally her eyes snap open, bloodshot from fear and wild, Nat looking around with wild eyes,

"Baby girl, it's me," he says when she does not to seem to recognize her surroundings. She looks at him for a few seconds, and then her lip trembles. Loud sobs escape her mouth, and she leans against him, shoulders shaking. "Hot chocolate?" he asks, and she nods once.

Clint lifts Natasha up bridal style and carries her out to their couch. Sitting her down, he goes to heat up the milk and get out the cocoa mix. Just over five minutes later, he returns with two mugs. Placing one on the bedside table beside Nat and one in her barely shaky hands, he grabs the fuzzy blanket on the loveseat, and snags his hot chocolate once again, settling next to Nat on the couch. Clint unfurls the blanket and pulls his girlfriend to him, curling protectively around her.

Hot chocolate was their fix. It always had been. Every nightmare was the doorway to a silent night of drinking the cocoa and curling together. Not a word was spoken, not a word was needed. It was just them. Just them and no nightmares. Just them and hot chocolate in two mugs. Natasha's had a panda on it and Clint's a penguin. Natasha had wanted to get a spider and a hawk, but Clint had argued that hot chocolate should have nothing to do with anything that might remind them of the nightmare.

Already, Natasha's tears were starting to subside. Already, they were healing. Already, something about the hot chocolate was calming her down. Nat was pretty sure she was still sane, still a person. Nat was okay. They were fixing. Hot chocolate was their fix.

 **-Leah xx**


	24. Zoe's First Christmas

**Quick sequel to my drabble Princess!**

"TASHA TASHA TASHA!" Natasha woke to the sound of Clint jumping on their bed and shouting her name.

"What, Satan?" she muttered, pulling a pillow over her ears.

"IT'S ZOE'S FIRST CHRISTMAS, TASH!" Clint shouts.

"No Clint you're gonna wake up Zo-" too late.

Extreme crying erupted from the eight-month-old's nursery. "Nice one, Clint. Since, you woke her, you get her!" Nat rolls her eyes as the full grown man-child skipped off to his daughter before Natasha had even finished her sentence. Three minutes later, Clint came back with the redheaded infant in his arms. Despite her rude awakening, Nat could not help smiling at the sight of her daughter giggling in the arms of her husband, the man she loved so dearly.

"Come here, Zozo," Natasha reaches her arms out, and Zoe leans into her.

"Gaga!" Zoe babbles.

"SHE SAYS ITS TIME TO OPEN PRESENTS!" Clint was back to shouting. Zoe's lower lip trembled a tiny bit at the noise, and Clint shrunk like a kicked puppy. "Sorry," he whispered.

"Okay, we can open presents, but you have to be quiet!" Natasha gives the second Clint pulls out the puppy eye trick.

Grabbing Zoe, Clint skipped into the living room of their apartment. Natasha rolled her eyes again, laughing softly to herself.

Her perfect little imperfect family.

 **-Leah xx**


	25. Zoe Rose Romanoff-Barton

**Yayyy! It's the prequel to** ** _Princess_** **that so many of you all asked about! Mahalo for 50 reviews and 8,000 reads, this is sooooo insane! Check my profile for my social media links, follow me on IG and Twitter for DMs full of love and follow backs! Mahalo to all of you to reading and reviewing!**

"It's a… girl!" Dr. Fields says, smiling up at Natasha, who was in the stirrups in the maternity room, having just given birth.

Clint, who was just making a face at the pain of Nat squeezing his hand, broke into a huge incredulous smile. "A- a girl?" he wheezed out, grinning even wider at the baby whose umbilical cord Dr. Fields was cutting.

"Yes, it's a girl," the Doc smiled at the two super assassins.

"Oh, a girl," Natasha breathily laughs, sighing and smiling. Dr. Fields wraps her up in a tiny pink blanket and hands her to Clint.

"And here's the little princess," Dr. Fields smiles as she places the tiny crying bundle into Clint's very burly arms. He leans down so that the baby is face level with Natasha as well.

"Hey," Nat whispers gently.

"Do you have a name picked out?" Dr. Fields asks the two super assassins, who were staring at the little girl whom they had tacitly agreed to protect with their lives.

"Yeah," murmured Clint, still not taking his eyes away from his daughter, "Zoe Rose Romanoff-Barton,"

"Our little Zoe," Natasha smiled at the tiny, tiny, tiny human yawning quietly Nat's husband's arm. They had a family. One of the things Natasha was sure she would never be allowed, and this as something the man she loved had given her. Clint had given her a family.

Their little Zoe.

 **-Leah xx**


	26. Eggs

**Again, not all of these have something to do with** ** _Princess_** **and not all have connections to each other, so unless I say they are the sequel/prequel of another drabble or one-shot.**

"Let's make a cake," said Clint one day. Natasha and Clint were lying on the couch, her leaning against his chest, with absolutely nothing to do.

"What?" Nat all but sputters out.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" he encourages.

"What the hell, let's do it!" Natasha says, deciding it'd be fun to get back in the kitchen. She hadn't really wanted to bake these past couple months, and she'd really started resenting herself for it, as she had always loved it and just forgotten about it.

Getting out the flour and sugar, she zipped around the kitchen grabbing things that Clint didn't even know they had in preparation for the chocolate cake her boyfriend wanted.

"Babe, grab me two bowls," she said as she rifled through cabinets she could hardly reach, being too stubborn to ask for help.

Clint, who was clueless in the kitchen, stumbled around like a blind kitten. "Where are they?" he muttered the question.

"Cabinets to the right of the fridge, baby," she laughs.

"Knew that," he laughs.

"Sure you did," Natasha rolls her eyes, but then gasps when she feels an egg crack over her head. "What the- CLINT!" Nat shrieks, feeling the gooey egg sliding down her red locks and to the nape of her neck.

"Whoops?" Clint shrugs, not sounding sorry at all. Nat turns to him, spotting the egg tray behind him on the marble counter a few feet away.

Natasha ducks around him and reaches the counter, snagging four eggs, two in each hand. She guards the tray as well, not wanting Clint to get his hands on the remaining ten eggs.

Swapping one of the eggs in her right hand to her left, Nat aimed and fired an egg straight for his chest. Perfect shot, as always.

Twenty minutes later, Natasha and Clint were covered in egg, flower, cinnamon, and even some milk (nice job Clint), with no cake to show for it. "Okay, I think I need a shower," Natasha said, having won the war.

"Funny, so do I!" said Clint with a cheeky smile and a devious glint in his eye.

"Would be a waste of water to shower separately," Natasha hinted, and Clint laughed, standing as well.

 **-Leah xx**


	27. Little Things

**Quick Clintasha monologue drabble! Another one a tiny different than this should be up later if I have time to write it, and leave a review on this one for a free hugs!**

Clint knew Natasha, even the little things. The little things like how she preferred her coffee, which is black. Little things like how she'd rather have peanut butter cookies, not chocolate chip. She liked to wear nothing but underwear and one of his shirts to bed, and the shirt was especially when he was away on missions—he'd find that she wore one every single night he was gone, and when he was home she could go without. She preferred combat boots or converse for shoes, she hardly wore anything else, unless high heels were needed to seduce a target. When Natasha wore something that wasn't her suit, she preferred jeans over anything else, but mostly skirts and dresses, she hated them. Clint loved everything about the tiny redhead. From her coffee to her clothes, every little thing was perfect.

Natasha knew everything about Clint, even the littlest things. Tiny things like he preferred tea over coffee, even though he only drank three types—Earl Grey, peppermint, and any sort of green tea. He hated sugar cookies with a burning passion and would eat a chocolate chip cookie any time of the day. He tended to sleep in nothing but sweatpants, or, in the summer, boxers. He liked work boots for the most part, maybe sneakers for missions, or he'd just walk around in fuzzy socks all day. He loved jeans but always preferred sweatpants, especially on lazy days with Nat and the team in the Avengers Tower. Natasha adored everything about the blue eyed archer. From his tea to his favorite fuzzy blue and purple socks, every tiny detail was flawless.

 **-Leah xx**


	28. Take a Stand

**This is not Clintasha, but it happens to touch on a subject near and dear to my heart-bullying. I know you've heard it all before, but if you or someone you know is going through something of the sort, abuse or bullying of any kind, speak up. Tell someone. A friend, a parent, a relative, an adult you trust. Hell, tell me. Tell someone on here, tell anyone who can give emotional support and help make choices like who else to tell, and what else you might need to do. Tell someone, because you never know. #takeastand and make a difference today. I love and am here for all of you.**

She muffles a cry

As tears begin to slide

Down her cheeks

Crusted blood it reeks.

Oh God, help this little girl,

With nothing but pain in her world.

Bootprints litter her side

Happiness gets harder to find

And every single night she cries

Because all those bullies are twice her size.

Oh God, help this little girl

With nothing but pain in her world.

She tries dealing with the pain

Washing her own blood down the drain.

Every night when her parents fall asleep,

She treats her injuries and weeps.

Oh God, help this little girl

With nothing but pain in her world.

One day she starts coughing up red

And she remembers what her mother once said

"You can tell me anything no matter how bad,"

And God did that little girl wish she had.

Oh God, take good care of this little girl,

She's on her way up to your side of this world.

 **Again, take a stand. Tell someone. Speaking of this, my Instagram and Twitter are in my profile. Go to either of them and I will be giving love to those of us who tweet me or comment on my photos with the hashtag #takeastand, because giving a voice to those who don't have one is the greatest thing you can do. #takeastand**

 **-Leah xx**


	29. Empty

Natasha's eyes open in the dark bedroom with too much blanket covering her figure. It was all bunched around her, which was not what it was supposed to be like because Clint always stole all the blanket, always leaving Natasha cold and now she was warm but it was not right. They'd had a huge fight yesterday and Clint had gone to stay at the Avengers Tower, which was where they usually stayed but lately they had been at the apartment they owned but never used. She rolled over and felt nothing but air where Clint should be, and there was no arm around her waist drawing her in close to share the blanket he was determined to hog. There was no kiss to her nose when he woke in the middle of the night, no soft murmur of her name while he slept. Just empty. Just time to regret. She missed him.

Clint sat upright in bed, sensing something wrong. When he realized there was no intruder, he deflated like a kicked puppy. It was Natasha, or, more accurately, a lack thereof. He had no little body to pull towards his own, no tiny warm figure to curl up against. No one to protect, no one to steal the blanket from. Just a cold pillow adjacent to his own. No Natasha to hold after nightmares. Just a cold bed, a quiet room, his empty arms. Nothing like the gentle redhead who he loved so much, nothing like the girl whom all he wanted to say to was I'm sorry. If Nat was here now he would pull her close and whisper apologies for that stupid stupid fight. All he wanted was to press a kiss to her nose and tell her he loved her, tell her he couldn't live without her. But she wasn't here. There was just a cold bed. Just time to wish she was here. He missed her.


	30. So Cold

**Heyyyy! I know I'm so terrible, I've been away for so long, but I DO actually have a semi decent reason- my laptop broke and my new one took FOREVER to ship in, but I have been drafting fanfictions in my journal so I have some stuff to put up, don't worry! Love you all so much, sorry for the wait!**

 **So this particular fanfic is inspired by the incredible song So Cold by Nikisha Reyes, or more accurately, the edited version of it in the YouTube Clintasha tribute that you can find by searching Here (Clint-Natasha) in YouTube. Listen to both the original and edited, and tell me what you think!**

 **R+R**

 **Blurb: Natasha worries she's cold. Natasha worries she's completely emotionless from her time in the Red Room. Natasha thinks Clint deserves more than a girl who is so cold.**

Natasha awoke from the nightmare with a start. The horrid dream had included the faces of marks she had killed during her time in the Red Room. Strangely, the work Natasha had done with SHIELD did not haunt her nearly as much. However, in the Red Room, all they needed was a hunch and that was enough proof to kill someone, man, woman, or child. They killed without emotion.

Was that what Natasha was? Emotionless? Probably. Probably, because she had pulled the trigger so many times without blinking an eye. She had probably gone cold., something she'd always feared. Just as a tear slipped from her eye, Clint let out a soft snore beside her. He was so different. Clint was warm and affectionate and emotion-filled and he deserved so much more. He deserved someone with the ability to love and trust, someone more like he was. Someone that wasn't so cold.

Before Natasha knew it, tears were streaming down her cheeks, accompanied by loud hiccups and gasps. She was cold and Clint deserved so much more and God, that scared her so much because she was most definitely not a good enough person to let him go and let him find someone who was more like he was and all of a sudden her chest tightened and she couldn't breathe, she could hardly do anything but cry. This was a panic attack, she'd seen Skye have one before. That was what this was, Nat was sure of it. The one thing she wasn't sure of was what the hell to do about it. After gasping for a moment more, she caved and woke Clint. With a sleepy mumble, he rolled to face her and cracked one eyelid open.

"What, Nat? If you have a damn pie in your hand again I swear to Go-" Clint trailed off as he took in the hysterical emotional state Natasha was in and swore, sitting up. "Holy shit, Natasha, are you alright? Oh Lord, you're having a panic attack, okay, um, breathe in and out, slowly, okay? Just keep breathing. In and out, come on, with me now, in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out..." Clint let his voice trail off but kept breathing to that rhythm, gently rubbing circles on the back of her hand as he squeezed it gently.

Natasha could feel her heart rate slow and finally so did her breathing, and she collapsed against Clint, sobs wracking her now limp body. Clint was shocked, he had never _ever_ seen her cry this hard, he had no idea what'd happened. He took hold of her shoulders and makes her look at him. "What's wrong, baby? Did something happen?" As he says this, he flips on the bedside lamp.

"I-I am so _cold_ , Clint. Back in t-the Red Room, I killed people and it didn't bother me. I have no emotions, and y-you deserve so much more but I'm not a good enough person tolet you go, because you are so damn perfect and I love you-" she rambled until Clint cut her off.

"Nat, baby, slow down, calm down, it's okay. You're okay." Clint soothes. "You just described love and sadness, and you're crying, which I hate, but obviously you have emotions. You're not cold at all, you're warm and full of love, and look," he picks up a picture of him and Nat Steve had taken, of Clint giving Natasha a piggy back ride and they both have these huge, huge smiles. Natasha remembered that she had loved the photo so much she'd demanded Tony print and frame it to put it on their bedside table. "This is us. Look, Nat, we're happy. You're not cold, you're smiling and laughing and _happy._ You're not cold, Natasha, you're just a little damaged, a tiny bit wrinkled around the edges but that's okay, because you have me and the rest of the team to pick you up when you fall down. And what the hell did you say about me deserving more? There is nothing _more_ than you, you're the best thing there is, the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you Natasha Romanoff," Clint says softly, bringing the tiny redhead to his chest, hugging her tightly. She holds onto him like a lifeline as he smiles gently to himself, kissing the top of her head.

Clint shuts off the lamp and they lie back down, but he keeps his arms around her tight.

 _I'm not cold. I'm not cold. I'm not cold. I'm not cold._ Natasha repeats those three words to herself over and over until finally, her green eyes fluttered shut.

 **So sorry for all the typos, still getting used to the new laptop. Love you all, leave a review!**

 **-Leah xx**


	31. She's Leaving Home

**Blurb: Natasha packs her bags after a huge fight and Clint is left to wish he'd never raised his voice.**

"You never do anything right! You're a terrible person!"Clint screamed. It was as if he was targeting every single insecurity Natasha had and stabbing her in the heart with them. Clint hadn't even realized that Natasha had given up on yelling back and was just curled into the tightest ball possible, listening as Clint paced back and forth and screamed at her, bombs falling from his lips.

Finally, she just went numb. Her infamous Black Widow emotionless stare found its way onto her face. Natasha unfurled herself and stood silently. Brushing past Clint, she heads to their bedroom without so much as a whimper. The very second Natasha walked by him, Clint snapped out of his angry trance. "Oh my Go..." he whispers, unbelieving at the sight of the broken Widow. "Baby I-" he tries.

"Stop it," Nat's voice breaks on these words. It is as if the great Natasha Romanoff has become smaller, weaker, more vulnerable, and just a shell, all smiles wiped by the screams. "You didn,t even... how could you... just... stop it," a single tear slid down her cheek. She grabs her duffel bag of emergency mission clothes and leaves the bedroom, Clint tailing like a lost puppy.

"Natasha, please-" Clint tries again once they reach the doorway.

"Goodbye, Clint," Tasha shrugs her shoulders sadly and leaves.

"I'm sorry," Clint whispers helplessly to the shut door.

Natasha showed up at SHIELD headquarters less than fifteen minutes later. Quickly, she made her way to Director Fury's office. "Fury," she croaks, voice hoarse from crying and yelling and screaming.

"Natasha," Fury looks up, taking in the messy-haired tear-stained girl with a shocked look, taking off his reading glasses. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, fine. Listen, I want to take you up on that two-month undercover op in North Korea, if you don't mind. I think it'd be best if I- if I leave tonight," Natasha says brokenly. When Fury seemed like he was going to ask more questions, she gave the best answer she could. "Clint," she whispered, and that was truly the best she could do without breaking altogether.

Fury just nods. "There's a quinjet waiting for you in takeoff bay seven, and I'll send an agent with you to brief you before landing." and off Natasha went, without once looking back. Her phone rang just as she boarded the jet.

The screen showed a picture of Clint and Natasha that Steve had taken with a Stark Camera. It was during a movie night and both assassins were asleep, Natasha's head on Clint's chest and his arms around her protectively.

The contact name that flashed was something that Clint had put in- Nat's Favorite Bird.

Natasha's heart wrenched in her chest and her mind forced her finger to press the ignore button despite her heart's protests. A single tear slipped down Nat's cheek just as the quinjet took off.

"Goodbye, Clint,"

Back at their apartment, Clint was still staring at the door that just wouldn't open back up.

"I'm so sorry, Natasha,"

 **BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME THERE IS MOST DEFINITELY A SEQUEL!**

 **-Leah xx**


	32. I'm So Sorry

**Blurb: Clint is finally reunited with Tasha after their huge fight and his long thought-upon apology is finally heard. SEQUEL TO "She's Leaving Home."**

 **Okay so I was going through my emails ad I realized that one of you has left so many damn reviews and I've only replied once, you show up as HicetNunc most of the time, but my computer is really glitchy so I hope that's right! Anyways, I can't reply to you directly because you show up as a guest, but you know who you are! You are so sweet, thank you for all the lovely reviews and well wishes. If you see this, comment some other form of social media that you have so I can open a direct chat line with you! You seem so sweet and kind, mahalo for al the support!**

Clint's phone rang at five am on the 62nd morning since Natasha left. Like each night before this, he'd stared at the ceiling replaying that night in his head over and over, thinking up an apology for his actions. Usually, he'd fall asleep anywhere from midnight to three am, get three or four hours of shitty sleep laced with nightmares of never seeing Natasha again. Rolling over to his bedside table excitedly, Clint snagged his phone, praying it was Natasha. Praying he could apologize. Praying he'd at least get to hear her voice. He'd called her a million times, and even when it was 3am and he was sure she wasn't going to answer, he'd call her to hear her voicemail.

He'd listened to that voicemail so many times now that he knew it by heart. Nowadays, it seemed to play itself in his head. _Hello, you've reached Natasha Romanoff,_ it would say. _It appears I can't get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll ge- Clint please stop tickling me I swear to God- I'll get back to you as soon as possible! Bye!_ Clint remembered the day she had set that up, and he listened for the little giggle that had escaped Natasha's mouth before she could press **Stop Recording**.

Snapping out of the memory, Clint picked up the phone with a hopeful half-smile, wishing and praying to see Natasha's beautiful face. He deflated like a balloon when it was Coulson's face not Natasha's flashing on his phone. Regardless, he answered with a dead, cold tone because he was too tired and lost to put emotion into it. "Yes?" he asked.

"Fury didn't want me to tell you this, said it should be her choice, but Natasha's quinjet touches down here in five minutes. If anyone asks, I didn't say anything. Come get your girl back, Clint," Coulson whispered in to the phone.

"What?!" Clint sat straight up, and before Coulson could even repeat the information, Clint was out of bed and throwing on a shirt and jeans, then sneakers and he grabbed ahold of the phone, running out of his apartment that was full of Natasha's things and down to the car.

"You heard me," Coulson said when he heard Clint's ignition start up and tires squealing. "I'm sending her to the private room of the med bay to get checked over when she lands, meet her there. I'll give the doctor instructions to clear out as soon as you arrive so you can talk to her,"

"The med bay? Is she okay?" Clint asked, going at least ninety down the road with the thirty mile-an-hour speed limit.

"Fine, but you need a private place to talk to her. Head to the med bay as soon as you get here," Coulson said.

Clint had never driven faster in his life.

He showed up to the med bay six minutes after hanging up on Coulson, which probably broke about a million records. Clint peeked in the window of the private room and he saw the short red locks and the catsuit of the little redhead who was facing away from him, and all of a sudden he couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, because here she was after so long and all he wanted to do was go in there and get on his knees and beg for forgiveness but he couldn't because his legs were lead, unable to move, he was stuck- no. He needed to do this. He needed Natasha. Forcing his body to work, he moved his shaky hand to the doorknob and twisted, pushing it open. Each movement grew easier.

"Natasha," he forced out, his voice failing him. She heard him and turned, and the doctor took the opportunity to leave the room.

"Clint I-" she said, and for fear that she would silence him, Clint cut her off.

"No, let me speak. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything and I know that's not enough but I need you to know that I am so, _so_ sorry and no matter what, I will not stop loving you and I will not stop fighting for you, for us. Ever. You are the very best thing that has ever happened to me, that will ever happen to me, and I need you in my life, Natasha. I need you so fucking much it hurts. I can't _live_ without you, Natasha! Do you understand that I physically cannot breathe without you? I can't smile, can't laugh, can't survive unless I know I have you and I have spent the past 62 days being so, so fucking sorry for everything but I want to spend the rest of my life being happy with you, so please, Natasha, please just come home. Say you need me too, say you love me, say you forgive me, say you'll come home. Say anything, just please don't say goodbye again because I can't live without you and hell, that scares me but I really hope you need me too. God, I love you so much, Natasha Romanoff, and I always will," Clint finished, feeling a huge weight lift from his chest.

Natasha smiled. "What I was _going_ to say, Clint Barton, is that I forgive you. And I need you too, I love you too, and I'm sorry for walking out that night. In these past two months I discovered that I _can_ live without you, but there is no way in hell I would ever want to," she jumped off the bed and straight into his arms.

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Outside the room, Phil Coulson watched their reunion with a smile while Fury scowled beside him. "See, I told you Clintasha is better than Brutasha," Phil smiled.

"Not true! Brutasha will live on!" Fury exclaimed. However, deep inside, he was happy to see the assassins together once again.

 **-Leah xx**


	33. How To: Handle a Zoe

**Blurb: A peek into Zoe's life as she roams around the towers while Coulson's team and Fury and Hill are visiting.**

 **Fourth edition in the Zoe Rose Romanoff-Barton series.**

 **Don't know who Zoe is? Go back and read Princess, Zoe Rose Romanoff-Barton, and Zoe's First Christmas. Too lazy? Zoe is Clint and Natasha's daughter. In the other editions, Zoe had been very young, infantile. In these, Zoe is six.**

 **Other characters besides Zoe and those from Marvel:**

 **Lily- Bobbi and Hunter's daughter, age 4**

 **Luke- Lily's twin brother, also 4**

"Auntie Jemma! Uncle Fitz!" Zoe squeals, tearing into the lab. Her curls, worn in the same bobcut as her mother, bounce after her. She shrieks and covers her eyes with a giggle when she notices that her aunt and uncle were too busy kissing each other to notice the little girl's arrival.

"Oh, my God, sorry Zoe," Jemma apologizes as she notices the little girl with a traumatized look on her face. Fitz blushes and straightens his shirt as his girlfriend fixes her hair.

"Hi, Zoe!" Fitz recovers quickly and scoops the tiny girl up into his arms. "Howzit?" Fitz and Jemma had taken a month to head to Hawaii and take some time off. They'd only just gotten back and that was why Zoe had torn into the lab, as she'd missed them.

"I missed you!" Zoe giggled, wrapping her wiry arms around Fitz's neck and hugging him tightly. When Jemma moved over to them, Zoe retracted from Fitz and reached out to be swapped into Jemma's arms.

Zoe was a tiny girl, thin, although she ate mountains, and short, but she could already beat Mack in a spar. Granted, he wasn't very good and also was always very gentle with tiny little Zoe. After Zoe had been shooed out of the lab by the scientists once they'd caught up with her. They said they had "sciency stuff to do" but Zoe was pretty sure they just wanted to keep kissing.

Next, Zoe skipped down to the training room, where she found Thor sparring with Mack, May sparring with Bobbi, and Lily laughing at her mother, Bobbi. Lily was four and one of Zoe's closest friends, right up there with Luke, Lily's twin brother. All sparring stopped when Zoe skidded into the room, because Zoe was everyone's favorite little child, except for Lily and Luke, but the twins were quiet and very secluded, so it was easier to get know and love Zoe.

"Auntie Bobs!" Zoe exclaimed, jumping into the sweaty spy's arms. Zoe's Uncle Hunter had taught the little girl to say Auntie Bobs instead of Auntie Bobbi, purely to annoy his wife.

"Hey, Zozo! How does sparring with Mack sound?" Bobbi loved watching Zoe kick Mack's ass, because Mack was her best friend next to Skye and Hunter.

"Yeah! Although I prefer to call it winning, not sparring," yes, Tony taught Zoe how to trash talk. Thor, Bobbi, May, and Lily all laughed and Mack just rolled his eyes, getting into position on the mats.

Mack took a swing at Zoe that never would have hit, but she treated it like a true punch and ducked, rolling between his legs and flipping so that she was facing his back. Before Mack was capable of turning around, Zoe leaped up, wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezing her knees to his flanks. Just as she would have put him in a chokehold, he tapped her arm as a sign of submission and she dropped off him, landing smoothly.

"Amazing, Lady Zoe! Your ability to fight is so like that of your mother and father's, I have no doubt you will come to be better than they are!" Thor praised the child, lazily swinging his hammer as he spoke.

Zoe curtsied and continued on throughout the tower, now heading to the kitchen where she knew her father and her uncles Steve, Fury, Phil, and Hunter were having lunch. "Daddy!" Zoe squealed, and climbed into Clint's lap, snuggling against her dad.

"Hi, baby girl, what've you been up to?" Clint asks his daughter.

"I saw Uncle Fitz and Auntie Jemma, but they were kissing and it was gross," Zoe explained. Hunter let out a snort and Fury rolled his eyes. "Also, I beat Mack _and_ I beat my record for how long it takes to beat him!" she smiled deviously.

"That's my girl!" Clint smiled at his daughter whilst she earned a high five from her Uncle Steve.

"Uncle Phil, is it true that you're an alien?" Zoe inquired, remembering what Luke had told her. Coulson spat the water he'd been sipping back into the cup. Hadn't they all agreed _not_ to tell the kids about that?

"What? No, of course not! Who told you that?" Coulson asked the little girl.

"Luke,"

"And who told him?"

"Uncle Stark," Zoe said. Sensing that it was probably a good time to leave, she skipped out of the room just as Coulson let out a very loud "STAAAAAARK!"

Next, Zoe went into the living room to try and track down her mother to find out if Uncle Phil really _was_ an alien. Bingo. She found her mother drinking wine with Auntie Skye and Auntie Maria.

"Hi Mummy!" Zoe said, and Natasha turned to her daughter with a smile.

"Hi baby," Nat replied, and Zoe waved to Maria as she climbed into Skye's lap.

"Mummy, is Uncle Phil really an alien?" Zoe asked, and the smiles dropped off the faces of the three women.

"Well, this has been lovely, but I think it's time for me to go find Nick," Maria said, referring to her boyfriend, Nick Fury. Well, if you asked Maria, they were just friends, but everyone knew that was a load of bullcrap.

Skye, who had recovered from the initial shock of the question, forced out a reply similar to the one Coulson had given just moments. "Who the he-" a sharp look from Natasha stopped her from swearing "heck told you that?"

"Luke,"

"And who told him?"

"Uncle Tony," Zoe figured it was probably a good time to tell Tony that Coulson was mad at him-make that Coulson, Skye, and Nat, as the two ladies also bellowed "STAAAAARK!" just as Zoe exited the room.

She made it down to Tony and Bruce's lab just as loud footsteps could be heard above. "Hi Uncle Tony! Hi Uncle Bruce! Hi Luke!" she greeted the three boys in the room, ducking as Luke was startled by the noise and shot a repulsor beam from the mini Iron Man suit that Tony was making him. The wall directly where Zoe's head had been had a hole with sizzling edges.

"Oops, sorry Z," Luke fretted, and Bruce went over and scooped a laughing Zoe up. It wasn't anything totally out of the ordinary for Zoe to be shot at, so she wasn't really shaken. Bruce, however, never really got over his favorite niece being nearly killed.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Tony asked, smiling at the girl.

"I asked my mom and Uncle Phil if he was really an alien and now Mummy, Auntie Skye, and Uncle Phil are all mad at you for telling Luke who told me," Zoe rushed out. Tony went pale.

"Ok, bye!" Zoe left just as she could hear the angered trio coming down the hall. She slipped into the vents like her dad had taught her and off she went.

 **Not exactly Clintasha but pretty long and very fun to write. Leave a review if you want to see more installments of Zoe Romanoff-Barton stuff mixed in with Clintasha drabbles!**

 **-Leah xx**


	34. Hey Guys

**Heya everyone. I just wanted to say thank you for all the well wishes, sweet comments, and support. I'm going through a really tough time at the moment, my grandfather is bopping between rehab and the hospital and he only has a few more weeks at best. I've been struggling a lot lately with PTSD, nightmares, and a borderline-abusive friendship I am having trouble escaping. Thank you to everyone who has left a review, favorited, followed, been there since the beginning, or just tuned in now for this very chapter. Everyone who is a part of this little community means so much to me, I love and cherish your presence every day. The things you guys say to me help get me through times like these and I could never be more grateful. Thank you.**

 **-Leah xx**


	35. I'm Russian Or I Was

**Blurb: In the Red Room, Natalia been on survival mode. Her first few weeks in SHIELD were much the same, not really talking to anyone but Hawkeye, the man she still refused to call Clint. However, everything changed in the darkness that was four am, not just her name. Sorry if this is confusing, but Natalia and Natasha are the same person!**

Natalia's eyes opened in the darkness of four am, body coated in sweat from her nightmare. She sat up in the bed that was much too big, compared to the twin bed she'd had in the Red Room. It was a king size, but that was not the weirdest part. The weirdest part was the man called Hawkeye who _trusted_ her, and she knew this because her first night out of the exam room, he'd offered to take her in and had been the first to fall asleep, no weapons under his pillow or the mattress-she'd checked.

It had been almost three weeks now, and still he fell asleep, became vulnerable, with his back to her. Natalia had found it very weird that they slept in the same bed and yet he had made no move on her, not tried to force her into anything like the men she had encountered in the Red Room. Hawkeye was very different. She realized she'd been shaking from the cold of the sweat when Hawkeye sat up and said, "Nat? Are you alright?" and there was that. He called her _Nat._ Always. Not once had he called her Natalia. And this past week she'd realized maybe she liked being his Nat.

When Nat didn't answer immediately, he sat up to face the Russian.

"Nightmare," she murmured, and he nodded. That was another thing she liked about Hawkeye - he understood her. He knew that what she had come from had been ugly and terrible and something she would probably never tell him about, but he had told her much of his past with the same trust that let him fall asleep.

"Maybe you should change your name," Hawkeye said.

"What?" she asked, not wary, just surprised.

"Not anything drastic, still similar to your name now, but something to help you put the Red Room behind you. Your name is currently Natalia Alianova Romanova, right?" he says, and Nat begins to catch on, she nods wordlessly and he continues. "You could change your middle name altogether if you like, but you could pick Romanoff for your last name."

"Natasha Romanoff," Nat says, wanting Hawkeye to still have the ability to call her Nat.

Hawkeye smiles. "Natasha," he murmurs to himself. "Nat,"

" _SHIELD Agent_ Natasha Romanoff," Natasha says, yawning.

"Good night, _Natasha_ ,"

"Good night... Clint," they both smile and lie down, and it is only then that Natasha realizes her hand is intertwined with Clint's. She smiles more, and she falls asleep facing him, their hands laced together in the middle.

Clint can't help but notice that Natasha is asleep long before he even shuts his eyes.

 **So it's kind of short but I actually wrote this and several others, soon to be uploaded, on the car ride up to my Grandad. It turns out that he died on the way up so I may not be very active, sorry if I let you all down**


	36. Amnesia

**Blurb: Alternative ending to She's Leaving Home based off the song Amnesia by 5 Seconds of Summer. In which Clint has lost Natasha and she is now happily dating Steve, but Clint hasn't stopped loving her.**

 _I remember the day you told me you were leaving_

 _I remember the makeup running down your face_

 _And the dreams you left behind you didn't need them_

 ** _**IN CLINT'S DREAM**_**

 _"Goodbye Clint," Natasha shrugged sadly, and Clint's world slowly started crumbling around him. His Natasha. The girl he loved so much taken from him, and it was all his fault._

"Of course she's leaving," _his subconscious told him. "_ You were never good enough for her, ever. All you ever did was hurt her, bring her down. She's the Black Widow, she never needed you, but you were too selfish to let her go," _Clint stared helplessly at the door, allowing his subconscious to tell him all the reasons Natasha was never going to come back._

 ** _**END DREAM**_**

Clint woke with a start. 34 days since Natasha walked out and every night the same dream. Her leaving, and then it was just Clint and a door shut tight. He looked at the clock, not caring enough to do anything about the tears streaming down his face. 2am. 2am and already Clint knew he was not going to be able to fall back asleep.

Pushing himself out of bed, Clint went over to his desk and wrote yet another letter to Natasha. He told her he missed her, he told her he missed her so much and he was so so sorry for everything he'd said that night. He told her he loved her more than she could ever, would ever know, and then he signed it with the words _Forever yours, Clint._

God, he loved her. He loved her so much.

 _I'm so sorry, Natasha._ he thought to himself.

 _Sometimes I start to wonder,_

 _Was it just a lie?_

 _If what we had was real,_

 _How could you be fine?_

 _'Cause I'm not fine at all_

It had been two weeks since Natasha had returned home and Clint had apologized. He'd been so sncere and apologized with everything in him the day she arrived.

Instead of jumping into his arms like he had dreamed about so so many times, Natasha had shaken her head sadly and asked him politely to leave. Later, he'd found out that she was now dating Steve, just two months after their ugly breakup and her leaving for the two month long mission. ( **Author: Confused? I said ALTERNATIVE ending to She's Leaving Home)**

Steve and Natasha were happy, really happy. Clint was not happy. He spent much of his time locked away, wishing he'd never yelled at his dearest Natasha, the only woman he'd ever loved.

Some days, Clint would just stare at his ceiling, replaying the night he'd let Natasha slip away. Every time it played in his head, there was a different ending. Sometimes, he'd stop her from leaving all together and apologize and they would kiss, and he would treat her well from that point on, constantly making up for that night but not minding because at least Natasha was still with him.

He couldn't even fake a smile any more, because it was hard to be around Natasha nowadays, and she had been the only thing keeping him grounded.

 _I wish that I could wake up with amnesia_

 _And forget about the stupid little things_

 _Like how it felt to fall asleep next to you_

 _And the memories I never can escape_

Some days, when Clint couldn't sleep, he would shut his eyes really tight and remember what it was like to sleep in the same bed as Natasha, not even the sex, just the cuddling. If he tried really hard, it was almost like he could _see_ her green eyes open in the dark of four am, wild with the aftershocks of a nightmare. It was almost like he could _feel_ the curly red locks sprawled across his bare chest as his heartbeat lulled her back to sleep. It was almost as if she was there with him once again, where she should be.

On those rare nights where Clint actually had a relatively decent dream, they were always of Natasha, always something happy, always a memory. Most recently it had been the time they had been dragged to the carnival by Tony but ended up falling for the touristy feel and actually having a good time, having snuck away from Stark and the rest of the Avengers.

 _ ****DREAM****_

 _"Clint, come on, just do it!" Natasha begged, trying to get him to go on the roller coaster. When he still declined, Nat resorted to puppy dog eyes. "Please?" She asked softly, sticking her lower lip out, pouting up at him with huge innocent eyes._

 _Clint caved quickly, rolling his eyes as Natasha squealed with glee and dragged him into line. Her green eyes sparkled with joy and Clint couldn't help but swoon internally, happy to see his girl happy, like she so deserved. He loved her, he always had, ever since that fateful night in Budapest when they'd kissed. They'd both been drunk, Natasha more so, but he remembered. She didn't, but the look on her face after the kiss was_ _burned into his brain, was all he'd see after he shut his eyes. She had looked so at peace, something he had thought she'd never ever be._

 _"AAAAAAAAAH!" Clint screamed. The line had moved much too quickly and now they were rushing down a hill at speeds faster than a quinjet, it seemed. Natasha laughed, grabbing a terrified Clint's hand. When the ride finally came to a stop, they were still linked by their hands, and Natasha leaned in to kiss him, and they were so close he could smell the peppermint of the gum she'd spat out moments before hopping on the ride. Their lips became closer and closer and then..._

 ** _**END DREAM**_**

Clint's eyes snapped open in the dark of his bedroom just before their lips could touch.

 _And all my friends keep asking why I'm not around_

 _It hurts to know you're happy_

 _Yeah it hurts that you've moved on_

A knock on the door dragged Clint from his thoughts. Two whole months had passed since Natasha had started dating Steve, and still Clint missed her so. It hurt, really, that she had moved on so fast, that their entire relationship ending appeared to have been a minor thing for her.

"Birdbrain? You in here?" Tony's voice worked its way into Clint's depressed bubble. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come out with Brucie, Thor and I. You haven't been out in a while and we are all really worried about you. Capsicle apologized, he really didn't mean for any of this to happen, I hope you know th-" Tony's voice was effectively muted as Clint turned over in bed and slammed a pillow over each ear.

He just couldn't. Couldn't listen to his friends, couldn't face Steve, let alone Natasha. Not today. Maybe not ever.

 _If today I woke up with you right beside me_

 _Like all of this was just some twisted dream_

 _I'd hold you closer than I ever did before_

 _And you'd never slip away_

Every day. Every single day, Clint would wake up wishing that Natasha was here. He'd wake but keep his eyes shut, rolling over and trying to imagine the pillow he was hugging to his figure was Natasha, red curls and all.

Every day, he would force himself to think that all of it had been some stupid dream and she was right here with him, and they could just be happy, be in love, be Clint and Natasha, be _them_.

God, he loved Natasha so much. Everything about her.

 **This literally took me a good four and a half days to write and I can't even express to you how much I despise this piece. It didn't work out, but I was just in a state of utter and complete sadness, and therefore this was born. Thought I should upload it anyway.**

 **Speaking of uploadings, I'm trying to get on a steady schedule. How does two to three times a week sound? Mostly Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I realize its a Friday, so I'm starting Monday, not tomorrow as it's a holiday.**

 **Happy Fourth of July if you live in the US, and see you all Monday!**

 **-Leah xx**


	37. The Moment Afterwards

Happy.

Natasha was finally happy in the darkness of two am. As Meredith Grey said in the Grey's Anatomy marathon that Natasha and Maria had just had, "It's not about the sex. It's about that moment afterwards," and that was all Natasha knew.

Clint had fallen asleep long ago, right after they'd finished, so a good hour or two ago. Natasha, however, was wide awake, but not because she had been unable to shut her mind down, for the first time in she didn't even know how long.

She was up because she _wanted_ to be, because she wanted feel every moment of the post-sex happiness. She wanted to just feel _safe,_ and safe meant Clint. Safe meant his arms wrapped around her, pulling her to him, her back to his bare chest.

Safe meant this, this quiet broken only by the shift of the fabric and the soft snores of Clint. Safe was muscly arms that kept their grip loose until Natasha tried to move, because even when he was asleep, he tended to require Natasha as close to him as possible.

Love was safe, something Natasha had once believed was purely for children, but Clint... Clint changed everything. Everything. He taught her trust, love, safety, happiness, but he also taught her that she did indeed have a soul, something she had once thought she lacked.

She thought she'd been nothing but an empty shell, following Fury's orders. But Clint showed her that she was so soulful, that she could still truly feel things.

And all she wanted to feel was the warmth of Clint pressed against her back, not even in a sexual way. Just in the way it should be. Just in the happiest way.

 **Had nothing else to upload, this would most likely suffice.**

 **-Leah xx**


	38. Elastic Heart

**Blurb: Quick Natasha ficlet to the song Elastic Heart. Not really Clintasha. It's actually pre-Clintasha**

 **Just so you all know, I've been having inspiration issues lately, which is why I'm using songs a lot. Requests and such are very much appreciated, having a lot of trouble coming up with ideas myself.**

 _And another one bites the dust_

 _But why can I not conquer love?_

Natasha sighed as her target dropped like a rock. Simple seduce, milk for information, and execute type mission. Horribly reminiscent of the fact that the Black Widow knew absolutely everything about men, whilst Natasha Romanoff knew next to nothing. She hadn't exactly had any boyfriends growing up, what with being busy getting programmed to be the most deadly woman on the face of the Earth.

It was almost like living a double life, where the Black Widow had men biting the dust as soon as they saw her, and Natasha Romanoff was losing every battle she fought against love.

SHIELD had changed the evilness part of her job description, but not her job. She still had to seduce men any way she could.

But still, Natasha Romanoff herself had the impossibility of trusting people. Sure, Clint and Nat were best friends, but she still struggled to trust him at times. And really she adored him, but how could she tell him? She was nothing but a broken piece of the Red Room's masterpiece.

 _And I wanted it, I wanted it bad_

 _But there were so many red flags_

 _Now another one bites the dust_

 _And let's be clear I trust no one_

The mission went bad. That was that. She finally took down the last assailant, flipping and landing perfectly on her feet.

She wanted to be with Clint, as more than just friends, but at the moment it seemed so impossible. Seeing as he was far away, undercover, and unreachable, Natasha had no one to trust at the moment.

And the red flags lining the walkway that led to a relationship with Clint scared the crap out of Natasha, to be honest. She couldn't do it because Natasha had no way to truly trust anyone, even herself, but Clint had broken that and it scared her so so badly.

But she wanted it so badly. The moments she thought they could work were the sweetest things in her life, late nights when they protected eachother from bad nightmares. Late nights when he held her in his arms and she felt safe, the only place she ever truly did feel safe.

 _But you won't see me fall apart_

 _Cause I've got an elastic heart_

"Barton's compromised," Phil said. Natasha's heart sank into her chest and she wanted to cry. Instead, she got angry.

Because she wasn't allowed to fall apart. Because her Red Room training had stretched her heart into elastic, her soul into a rubber band. That said, losing Barton was like someone pulling way too hard on tat band, and snapping it. So she moved quickly, kicking and headbutting and flipping and smashing. She took out the pain on the men.

As she took them all down, one phrase repeated in her brain, the one thing still keeping her together.

 _You won't see me fall apart._

 **Ok so yeah I just wrote that. Yay. Anyways, it's currently 8pm on a Tuesday, and this is going up around 8 on Thursday. Doesn't matter that I'm telling you this, you won't see it until Thursday!**

 **-Leah xx**


	39. Cuddles

**Blurb: She'd kill anyone who found out. Because as far as everyone else knew, Natasha Romanoff was most definitely not a cuddler.**

 **Just a quick Clintasha ficlet because I have no real time these days, I'm working two jobs and haven't had any time to write.**

Clint woke with a start, but he was careful not to move too much, as he'd wake a grumpy Natasha, the little redhead who was currently latched onto him like a koala.

He laughed softly to himself as he saw that she had one leg thrown over his and an arm splayed across his chest whilst he was flat on his back. He had one arm tucked around her shoulders and his other hand clasped tight in hers, intertwined in her hand that was across his chest. His cheek was resting softly against the top of Natasha's head, and she let out a tiny whimper when Clint lifted his head to look around him.

Natasha shifted a tiny bit, tightening her grip around his chest. She mumbled a weak, incoherent sentence and readjusting her head, stretching her head out before resting it back where it was, smiling a little to herself-she must be having a fairly nice dream.

Clint couldn't help but smile to himself at her position, knowing she'd kill anyone who found out. Because as far as everyone else knew, Natasha Romanoff was most definitely not a cuddler.

 **Yay for extremely short fics and shit! I'm tired, got to get to bed but I'll see you Monday with another update!**

 **-Leah xx**


	40. A Day In The Life

**Blurb: Have you ever wondered what it's like to be Natasha Romanoff?**

Natasha's eyes opened at precisely six am, and she sat up, stretching. Clint muttered an incoherent complaint as his arm dropped from around her torso and her legs were untangled from his. Nat laughed softly to herself. He was always so terrible about getting up in the morning, unlike Natasha.

Nat swung herself up and out of bed, pulling on a pair of pajama shorts and readjusting Clint's t-shirt, one of three that she slept in.

She padded into the kitchen of their floor(each of the floors that housed living quarters had their own kitchen, dining room, and living room, however there were much larger versions of each, minus the bedrooms, on the common floor) and quickly made coffee. While the coffee brewed, she headed back into the bedroom and entered her closet, pulling out a pair of training shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top. She chugged her coffee on the way down to the gym, arriving three minutes late - 6:18 am.

Steve rolled his eyes at her as she pulled her hair back into a short ponytail-she'd let it grow out to her shoulders after the battle against Ultron. They settled into position on the mats, immediately beginning to spar like they'd done every morning for who-knows-how-long.

Natasha caught a punch from Steve, flipped him and kicked him in the back when he landed the flip. Their sparring was vicious and they often left with angry bruises but it was important to keep up their skills.

At exactly 6:30 am, they stopped sparring, shook hands and went to towel off. By 6:35 am, Nat and Steve had gone their separate ways, him headed to whale out his rage on a punching bag and she going to jump on a treadmill for ten minutes. Nothing like the extent of her stamina but enough to wind her slightly.

Natasha headed back up to her floor and hopped in the shower, out by 6:45. She woke Clint as she dressed and headed down for breakfast with Bruce, Jane, Thor, and Steve at 7.

She was done with breakfast by half past 7 and sat down at the desk in her private office (there were separate ones for Clint and Nat on their floor as well as every other room Stark had thought they might need). She had a lot of paperwork to do, as she had had a very important mission the past week and had been putting off the paperwork since then.

Nat got nearly all the paperwork done by 10:30 am, occasionally getting up to fetch more coffee.

Clint came in then, and they decided to go out for an early lunch. The couple went to their favorite little cutesy cafe, and they returned to Stark Towers by noon.

"So, what are you up to today?" Natasha asked her boyfriend as they rode in the elevator up to their floor.

Clint sighed. "Paperwork because of the fact that Tony convinced me to pee on the Statue of Liberty,"

Natasha snorted, laughing to herself and rolling her eyes. "Well, I've planned to make muffins now, and clean our apartment, then have dinner and spar with Steve more, so I figure we won't really see much of eachother until tonight. Bye babe!" She pecked his lips and headed into their foyer, and Clint continued up, on his way to Tony's lab so that the two of them could be sufficiently yelled at by Pepper.

Banana and blueberry muffins lined the cooling racks above the oven as Natasha finished doing the dishes and wiping down the counters. She did the laundry and the time flew by as she listened to Beyonce. Yes, Natasha Romanoff listened to Beyonce. Before she knew it, it was time for dinner.

Natasha arrived back in her apartment from sparring with Cap very sweaty and tired.

She quickly rinsed off, grabbed a muffin and settled on her couch, flipping on Netflix.

Before she knew it, it was almost 10 pm and she was getting ready for bed, then curling up in Clint's arms and her tired eyes were fluttering shut.

 **Okay, guys. I have a thing for y'all. I just heard about a little dog who has anxiety issues, and his owner needs funds to get him the training he needs to fix himself. If you'd like, here's a link to donate to him - his name is Ziggy. I've met him, and he's so sweet and kind.**

 **Donate to Ziggy - z5qt7s**

 **It will also be in my bio, as this link sometimes does not work. Ziggy needs your help!**

 **-Leah xx**


	41. Sunday Morning

**Blurb: Clint and Natasha spend a lazy Sunday morning together.**

Natasha woke up slowly, eyes fluttering open with a certain grace only she had. She smiled softly to herself as she heard Clint making pancakes in the kitchen. He made the two of them pancakes every Sunday-3 blueberry pancakes for Natasha and 4 chocolate chip ones for himself. It wasn't strange for them to swap bites of each other's, but only ever on Sundays. Their day.

Sundays were the days for only Clint and Natasha because they both would definitely not be working, unless they were out on missions, but Fury knew to send both Barton and Romanoff on missions at the same time, either together (obviously),or separately. This was important because if one went on a mission while the other was at home, the one left behind became a useless piece of moping human until they were reunited. Fury was surprisingly accepting of this fact and had even referred to the pair as "Clintasha" before, at least five times.

Tasha rolled from her right side to her back, sitting up a little. Clint always brought her breakfast in bed on Sundays, something she'd never asked for but always greatly appreciated. For some reason, he got all mopey when she came into the kitchen instead of letting him bring her breakfast. Natasha had always assumed that it was just his way of looking after her, as every other day but Sunday were days when his protecting her wasn't an option.

Mouth watering at the scent of blueberry pancakes wafting into the bedroom, Natasha grabbed her phone and replied to a text from Maria. The two had grown close after the events at the Triskellion with the hellicarriers, Steve, and Bucky. **(See Captain America: The Winter Soldier)**

"Morning baby," Clint said, snapping Natasha from her thoughts. She looked up from her phone with a warm smile so precious and only for Clint. Only for this day. His hair was a tad longer than he usually had it and messy from sleeping. His blue eyes sparkled trustingly into hers, the oceanic color to them something Natasha sorely missed when she was away on missions.

In Clint's hands was a tray with two plates, silverware, and two mugs. On the plates were the pancakes, and in the mugs was peppermint tea(with caffeine), a drink that they both preferred over coffee. However, the two of them always drank coffee instead of tea because coffee had more caffeine and they needed that extra bit.

But not on Sundays. On Sundays they were exactly who they wanted to be.

 **I'm leaving tomorrow(Friday) for vacation and won't be uploading again until Monday. I have to go to get packing now, but R+R and I'll see you all on Monday!**

 **-Leah xx**


	42. After

**Blurb: After.**

After missions was the most humbling would pad silently into their apartment, sometimes one using the other as a crutch. Two broken shadows movng slowly along a fractured screen.

She'd flip the light switch on, a low light that let the two see each other and their injuries. The healthier of the two would go get the medical bag and she would first, always wordlessly, clean and patch him up. He'd care for her next, gentle swipes of antiseptic-covered gauze swatches across burns and slashes.

Since they were both thoroughly exhausted and had eyelids startig to droop shut, he would, if he was well enough, scoop her into his arms and head to bed. They'd cuddle close as they slowly fell asleep. He'd sleep with his arms wrapped tight around her and his chin against her head.

She'd sleep with her nose just barely touching his chest, giving her room to breathe, and a fistful of his shirt gripped tightly in her small hand.

In the morning, they'd go back to their usual routine, acting as if nothing had happen. And that night, instead of sleeping in the aforementioned fashion, they slept with her back to his chest and his arm draped warmly around her waist.

But after missions was always different.

 **Sorry about Monday's upload, I had tech difficulties and couldn't get one up.**

 **Anyways, how are you all doing? I'm having an absolute shit day. I won't bore you with the details, but if you want to hear about my many issues atm then tell me so in a review and I'll PM you! I love you all, thanks for being such amazing humans**

 **-Leah xx**


	43. Happy

He would never say he was _happy_ to kill someone. Ever. Becaeuse he never was, he always despised doing it. Did he regret it? No. Mostly because everyone he'd taken out under SHIELD's gaze had always been bad, bad people. Mostly because they were people who needed to die. People who tortured and abused the goodwill of others, and others themselves.

Also, he never regretted the the fat, greasy politicians who stared at her like a piece of meat as she drew information from them, just by pulling down the neckline of her dress a little. The little redhead with the green eyes, who he'd fallen so in love with, she was not a piece of meat.

His girl who was smart and goofy and giggly, and not even his girl yet. She had the ability to use her figure to drain men like information wells. However, he simply thought that she could do so much, just by one laugh. One little giggle and he found himself swooning. One partially-joking death threat towards him or another member of their team and he found himself admiring her in all her glory.

She was so perfect, from the way she liked her coffee(even though she'd rather drink tea), to the way she laughed at his jokes. God, he wished for nothing else except for her to be his, and him hers. He was so in love with her, but he couldn't tell her for fear of losing her altogether.

No, Clint Barton did not feel happy killing anyone. But to protect Natasha Romanoff? He'd do anything.

 **I wanted to apologize for not uploading yesterday. Also, no upload Thursday, most likely. Gonna be kind of weird updates from here until a week from today, as I'm still on vacation with really weird wifi signals, so I'm just going to upload when I can. Also, I have very little writing time. Sorry if y'all wanted something a little longer but I'm actually currently trying to get another book off the ground so that's gonna take time.**

 **Read and review, best review gets a shoutout!**

 **-Leah xx**


	44. That Fire

**Quote Prompt: "You don't have that fire in your eyes anymore and you know it."**

 **Just a heads up, they aren't in an actual relationship in this one, just some cute friendship fluff stuff because I wrote this on my way home from my vacation and I was really tired so I thought I'd write something a little different.**

 **Leave a quote or something you want me to write a oneshot off of in your review! Currently taking Clintasha requests as all of my creative thinking is going towards a project I'm trying to get done for you all.**

"You've lost yourself again, haven't you, Natasha?" Clint asked softly. They were having a best friend movie night, curled on the couch together, only just touching. The movie was over and they'd forgotten to remove themselves from the couch. Her head had, at some point, made its way onto his shoulder. Natasha was a person who carefully picked the people who she actually trusted and enjoyed spending time with but with Clint, there was no choice, he'd find his way into her heart no matter what.

Clint took a deep breathe, slowly mulling over his next words before speaking. Natasha may be fragile at the moment, but she was still the Black Widow, and he wasn't ready to die. "You don't have that fire in your eyes anymore and you know it. You've burned yourself out trying to get all the red out of your ledger,"

There was a silence. It was quiet for far too long for Natasha to lie at the end, her window to say she was fine shutting long before she spoke. Sensing her discomfort at an attempt to be honest about how she was feeling, Clint gently wrapped his arm around Natasha's shoulder, pulling her just a little closer to his broad chest. He moved slowly, giving her plenty of chances to pull away from him, as this was basically the closest they'd ever stayed, sober that is. "I'm sorry," she murmured, voice so quiet Clint could have almost thought he'd heard wrong, if he wasn't an agent with training to prevent otherwise. She sounded so small, and sure, Tasha was a tiny human, there was very little to her, but she sounded small like a little child lost in a crowd without their parents.

The Black Widow was known for her fierce personality and her reliance on no one but herself. Natasha Romanoff, Clint was learning, was tiny and fragile and broken and so, so, small. And she was learning to need him, Clint realized. She was teaching herself to lean on him.

"Don't be sorry, Little One," he pressed his lips so very tentatively to her hair. He was always so terrified that he'd scare her off, like a feral kitten.

"I just wanted to be a good person," she told him in a voice that made it seem like she was saying something she didn't want him to hear.

"You are," Clint replied. "You are a good person, no matter what your past entails, You're not happy with what happens, which means that your past does not define you, Natasha Romanoff. You. Are. A. Good. Person." he said.

Nothing more was said for a very long time, and Clint was almost asleep when he heard her whisper a small "thank you." He didn't reply, because once again he felt as if she hadn't even wanted him to hear her, she hadn't wanted him to think of her as weak. That was okay. He'd teach her it was okay to be weak sometimes. He'd take care of her.

 **Once again, leave some sort of prompt in your review (songs, quotes, thoughts, etc.) and it might be my Thursday upload!**

 **Love you all!**

 **-Leah xx**


	45. Little Bird

**Prompt: Clint walking in on Natasha singing.**

Clint silently unlocked his apartment door and padded silently inside. It was 7 am and he'd just gotten back from London, even though he wasn't supposed to get in for another week. From talking on the phone with Natasha last night, he understood that she'd had a really late night at HQ and was probably asleep still, and she had no idea he was back in New York. Much to his surprise, as he tiptoed his way to the bedroom, he heard footsteps in the laundry room and a soft humming, which quickly translated to singing. Clint relaxed and smiled when he recognized Natasha's soft voice beginning to echo through their apartment.

He'd only heard her sing once, on a mission, and she was hardly trying. But now, her voice was heavenly and gentle and unscathed by her past, because she was just herself when she thought no one was listening.

 _"If we take this bird in_

 _With its broken leg_

 _We could nurse it_

 _She said_

 _Come inside_

 _For a little lie down with me_

 _If you fall asleep_

 _It wouldn't be the worst thing,"_ Clint immediately recognized the song choice, and smiled softly to himself. It was Little Bird by Ed Sheeran, and he couldn't help but think she'd picked it because Clint called Natasha his little bird.

 _"But when I wake up_

 _Your make-up is on my shoulder_

 _And tell me, if I lie down_

 _Would you stay now_

 _And let me hold you?_

 _But if I kissed you_

 _Will your mouth read this truth?_

 _Darling, how I miss you_

 _Strawberries taste how lips do_

 _And it's not complete yet_

 _Mustn't get our feet wet_

 _'Cause that leads to regret_

 _Diving in too soon_

 _And I'll owe it all to you_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird,"_ She sang. Clint whipped out his phone to record the rest of it on a sudden whim.

 _"If we take a walk out_

 _In the morning dew_

 _We could lay down_

 _So I'm next to you_

 _Come inside_

 _For a little home-made tea_

 _If you fall asleep_

 _Then at least you're next to me_

 _And if I wake up_

 _You see, it's late, love_

 _Go back to sleep_

 _I'm covered by nature_

 _And I'm safe now_

 _Underneath this oak tree_

 _With you beside me_

 _But if I kissed you_

 _Will your mouth read this truth?_

 _Darling, how I miss you_

 _Strawberries taste how lips do_

 _And it's not complete yet_

 _Mustn't get our feet wet_

 _'Cause that leads to regret_

 _Diving in too soon_

 _And I'll owe it all to you_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird_

 _And of all these things_

 _I'm sure of_

 _I'm not quite certain_

 _Of your love_

 _And you made me scream_

 _But then I made you cry_

 _When I left that little bird_

 _With its broken leg to die_

 _But if I kissed you_

 _Will your mouth read this truth?_

 _Darling, how I miss you_

 _Strawberries taste how lips do_

 _And it's not complete yet_

 _Mustn't get our feet wet_

 _'Cause that leads to regret_

 _Diving in too soon_

 _But I'll owe it all to you_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird whoa oh oh_

 _My little bird_

 _My little bird_

 _You're my little bird,"_ Clint ended the recording just as the last note sounded, and made his presence known by stepping rather noisily past the laundry room doorframe. Natasha whipped around, fists up, probably expecting him to be an intruder, as he wasn't supposed to be home yet, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hello, little bird," he greeted calmly.

 **OH MY LORD IM UPLOADING ON A WEDNESDAY! WHAT?!**

 **Anyways, credits to AhsokaTano11 for the prompt idea. She also had the best review last chapter, so shoutout to you!**

 **Best review on this chapter gets the video of Natasha singing!**

 **-Leah xx**


	46. Trust

**Not much of a blurb, and I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I don't have an excuse, I've just been really uninspired and frankly after receiving hate in my inbox, I really wasn't feeling the whole writing thing.**

Clint knew that Natasha's trust was a blessing in itself. He loved it. Loved that he'd earned it fair and square, simply by allowing her the freedom of acting however she wanted around him. Not once had he acted as if he expected something of her, anything of her. He knew what Natasha had come from, and he knew it wasn't good. Clint knew that she had nightmares worse than he did, and sometimes when he woke her from them it was like she was in a trance, scared of everything and unable to recognize things she should know, like a lost child. Clint thought maybe it was her brain overcompensating for all the despicable things done to her when she was a child, as if her mind was making itself think that the Red Room was all a dream and when she woke from those nightmares, she was back to being a scared five-year-old kidnapped by strange people.

No matter what, he would take care of her, because she trusted him and her trust meant he'd always look after her. Natasha's trust meant that he would always protect her whether she needed it or not. Clint had earned her trust and he planned to keep it no matter what. He'd do whatever it took, whatever mountain he had to climb, whoever he needed to take out, whatever impossibility he needed to conquer. After all, he'd earned her trust, and who was to say he couldn't someday earn her love too?

 **Anyways, I'm changing my upload schedule to Saturdays, once every week. That'll be the baseline, I'll try to get one up every week, and sometimes more, especially if I have some inspiration or a lot of reviews or a lot of prompt ideas. But yeah, hate is not cool guys, seriously. Best review goes to majesticflowerchild and AhsokaTano11, you guys are both lovelies. Have the video of Natasha singing!**

 **-Leah xx**


	47. Blue Eyes

**Realized I hadn't written Natasha monologue in a while and churned this thing out pretty quick. I figure this doesn't really count as a whole chapter update worth a week, so there might be a bonus at some point for you all! See you next Saturday(or sooner if I post a bonus chapter).**

 **Best review goes to NerdFighterGirl who is really the world's biggest sweetheart! Also, can I just say that AhsokaTano11 is soooooooo sweet and always leaves a review and is literally the nicest human alive!**

She trusted him. Natasha trusted Clint and that honestly scared the shit out of her. From when the Red Room had gotten their greasy paws on her all the way until the point of Clint rescuing her, Nat had been trained to not trust, and old habits die hard. She'd trusted no one and liked few from when she was five to literally six months after SHIELD took her in, when she finally felt like she didn't need a gun with her to talk to Clint.

Her programming still made it tough at times, meeting new SHIELD associates and such, to not be completely on guard until Clint reassured her. But she trusted him. Wholly, with everything she had. Those bright, warm, safe blue eyes of his were the only things that could calm her down after a nightmare, soft blue eyes searching her green eyes concernedly, looking for proof that she was okay, or going to be. Those blue eyes brought her back from the haze of after-nightmare fogginess, something Clint experienced as well. Blue eyes accompanied by muscly arms pulling her against a warm chest in a hug that made her feel safe, and even though they weren't, even though they could die at any time, Natasha felt safe in his arms. And she knew that was cliche and annoying and bad because what if the day came where he couldn't be trusted and he made her believe he could be, just by a hug and a reassuring glance.

Love had come next, finding a way to need and long for those beautiful blue eyes, as she had no memory of anyone she'd ever loved. From a young age, Natasha had learned how to rely on only herself, how to need only a gun to survive, and how to keep things closed inside herself. Clint shattered all of that. He became the thing she relied on, the thing she needed to survive, and he'd figured out just about everything there was to know about Natasha, and he could read her like a book, everything was out on the table.

All of that made Natasha feel out of place and unsafe and scared, but Clint knew that, and those beautiful eyes of his and his amazing hugs took all of that away. She needed him, and she didn't ever want that to change.

 **Best review gets a hug from Clint!**

 **See you next Saturday at the latest, or whenever I get my bonus chapter up! Just so you all understand, I'm going to try to get a relatively long chapter up every Saturday, and short little bonus ones sometimes, especially if my Saturday chapter is shorter than what will become "normal length", probably about 1,000 words. I know it's not much but I'm running out of inspiration and have a secret project on the way that's gonna be so much fun!**

 **-Leah xx**


	48. Why You Don't Kidnap Zoe: Part One

**Hey guys! Crazy response from the last chapter and a ton of messages in my PMs, which was absolutely amazing and mind blowing. I love to see reviews and just because I didn't pick yours as the best doesn't mean I didn't see it and thoroughly appreciate it, so firstly, thank you to everyone who already has or is going to leave a review, they really make my day, especially getting positive feedback or constructive criticism. Best review is picked based on what the actual review says and how often you leave an amazing review. If you leave one all the time, you're more likely to win, but sometimes I pick a new reviewer or someone who is new to my story just because.**

 **That said, best reviewer for this chapter goes to thewonderpen.**

 **Blurb: In which Ward kidnaps Zoe and ends up getting f'ed up by the Avengers, Coulson's team, and Fury and Hill. If you like Ward, I don't think you should read. Zoe is Clintasha's daughter, and she has been the feature of four or five other uploads to date. They aren't in chronological order.**

 **Zoe is four in this one, two years younger than she was in the last edition, so obviously not much ninja-know-how. YES I REALIZE I DIDN'T MENTION SAM OR BUCKY BUT I'VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH SEB STAN AND ANTHONY MACKIE LATELY #yourbucky**

 **WARNING: ADORABLY OVER PROTECTIVE UNCLE STEVE MAY CAUSE EXCESS FEELS, ADDICTION TO CHRIS EVANS GIFS, AND HYPERVENTILATION. DO NOT PROGRESS IF EASILY SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE AFORELISTED SYMPTOMS.**

"Do you have to go?" a tearful Zoe asked her mother and father, all suited up to go catch the baddies.

Sighing, Natasha knelt down to be eye level with the pouty four-year-old, grabbing one of Zoe's hands. "Yes, pumpkin, I'm sorry, but Uncle Nick needs us to go protect the world, but Aunt Pepper is going to babysit you until we get back, and we won't be gone too long, okay?" she squeezed the hand she was holding.

"Okay," Zoe murmured, nodding softly.

Fury needed all the Avengers including Zoe's Uncle Bucky, apparently HYDRA was experimenting on people in Budapest and they needed to go eliminate the threat and rescue the prisoners. Therefore, no one was left to watch Zoe save for Maria Hill, Coulson's team, Fury, and Pepper. Luckily, Fury was going on retreat, Maria was running SHIELD in his absence, Coulson's team was in New Mexico, and so Pepper didn't have to fight anyone tooth and nail for the chance to babysit Zoe.

"It's alright, darling, we'll be back tomorrow, I promise," Steve said, kneeling down much like Natasha, hugging his niece close. Zoe and her Uncle Steve had always been close, it was one of those things no one questioned. If she wanted to have her favorite uncle be Captain America, who were her parents to complain?

"Bye, Uncle Steve," Zoe whimpered into the blue of Steve's costume, and the genuine sadness in her voice made Steve angry that he had to leave, made him feel like beating the shit out of someone for taking him away from little Zoe, the tiny tot whom he'd do anything to protect.

"See you soon," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the small forehead of his niece who he wanted to always be there to protect. Yes, Zoe loved her Uncle Steve. And he loved his niece Zoe. It was an important bond that Natasha and Clint dutifully appreciated as Steve and Zoe seemed to be able to nearly sense one another, so it could come in handy if, God forbid, something ever happened to either of them.

Clint took his turn saying goodbye as soon as Steve stepped away. Clint's daughter looked exactly like her mother in every way except for her eyes. She had her dad's stormy blue-grey orbs, which, matched with her Natasha-lookalike chin length red curls, full red lips, and milky skin, made for a little girl who was truly a wondrous beauty.

"Daddy, can't you stay? I'll even let you be the princess this time and I can rescue you from the dragon!" Zoe pleaded, and Clint wanted to laugh at the innocence of it. Every time they played dress up, Clint was the prince and Zoe the princess, which caused Clint to (jokingly) whine about how he wanted to be the princess. A fact Natasha liked to bring up at parties whenever he bragged about her, she hated that.

"Listen, I'm only gonna be gone for a tiny bit and I would love to be the princess, but only when I get back. But you being happy makes me happy, so if you want to be princess, you can be princess every single time no matter how much I whine. Just be good for your Aunt Pepper, okay? I love you so much Zozo, and I promise I'll be back before you know it. You'll be fine." Clint said to his daughter, picking her up and hugging her tight.

Zoe tucked her head into the crook of her dad's neck, let one tear finally fall, and blinked away the rest, taking a deep, shaky breath. When she removed herself from Clint's arms, she had dry eyes and a calm expression. Natasha's resilience and ability to calm herself down had clearly somewhat rubbed off on the child, as Zoe maturely hugged each team member in turn, taking care to give her Uncle Bucky an extra big hug.

Steve had given her a very, very sugarcoated, watered down version of HYDRA getting their hands on Bucky, literally just telling the child that some bad people had given Bucky boo-boos and therefore Zoe always had to be nice to him. She automatically took that into account, like how her mother always told her never to make Uncle Bruce mad, and if he ever got mad to run and hide. Zoe was extra nice to Uncle Bruce, she didn't see any reason why she couldn't be extra-extra nice to Uncle Bucky.

Zoe waved goodbye to the Avengers from her place beside Pepper as the doors slid shut.

"Auntie Pepper, can we play hide and seek?" Zoe asked. Pepper laughed, nodded, and covered her eyes, beginning to count.

Meanwhile, Grant Ward tore his eyes from his binoculars, where he could see Stark's blonde bimbo and the little mistake that was Zoe Romanoff-Barton playing hide and seek. "Okay, gentlemen, the time is now, the Avengers have left the tower!" he addressed the HYDRA agents assembled around him.

"If I may, sir, why couldn't we just invade the tower when they were all in there, if the plan was to kill them all anyways?" One idiotic agent asked.

Ward sighed. "This way, we get the Avengers, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Phil Coulson's lovely team of misfits," he explained. And Skye can be mine, he thought, but he didn't dare say it out loud for fear that the HYDRA agents would lose interest in him as their leader if they knew he loved a SHIELD agent. And Captain America's new First Lady, he mused, remembering his initial anger when he had found out that Skye was dating the phony captain.

It had taken him a few weeks, but finally he'd realized that Skye was just confused, didn't realize that she was meant for him, not some goody-two-shoes like Steve Rogers. She'd probably been away from him for so long that she'd forgotten how much she loved him, and had used the Captain as a replacement until Ward came back for her, like he'd promised her he would. She'd see. Everything he did, all of it was for Skye. His Skye. No one else's.

"And when they show up, you are under direct orders NOT to kill Skye, this girl here," Ward started up again, causing the chatter that had arisen while he was emmersed in his thoughts to cease. He showed the agents a more recent photo of Skye, one that he had taken when she had been on a mission, looking so beautiful in her tactical gear.

The same stupid agent's hand went up. "May we ask why?" he inquired, and Ward whipped out his pistol and shot the agent point blank between the eyes, ignoring the gasps of the others as his body slumped to the floor.

"No," said Ward, "you may not."

With the help of Jarvis, Pepper tracked Zoe down to the sub-basement levels of the Avengers towers. They'd set the rules a few rounds ago, no peeking, but Jarvis was perfectly fine. Entering the basement with caution, she peeked around. Zoe was a master pranker and she wouldn't put anything past the girl.

What Pepper made her gasp and want to vomit. Grant Ward, slinging an unconscious Zoe over his shoulder. "NO!" Pepper screamed. Ward shot her with an ICER he'd stolen from Coulson's team and Pepper dropped.

Natasha was deep in thought on the plane ride, only two hours into the eighteen hour plane ride, when her phone buzzed. Checking it, she noticed it was Jarvis.

"Sup, Jarvie?" she asked. Long ago, she had adopted the nickname Zoe had for Stark's AI.

"It appears Grant Ward has shot Ms. Potts and taken little Zoe Romanoff-Barton hostage." Jarvis's voice was strained, as if the AI was struggling to put his bubbling emotions into the announcement, but failing, because he was, after all, a computer.

Natasha's blood froze, but instead of breaking completely, she went into mission mode and put her phone on speaker, signaling for the other Avengers to gather around her, even calling Clint from the cockpit, forcing him to put the quinjet on autopilot. "Say it again, Jarvis, you've got all of us listening." she informed the AI.

Jarvis relayed the same information to the rest of the Avengers, causing Clint to make a mad dash back to the cockpit to turn the quinjet around and Tony to immediately ask if Pepper was alright. "It was just what Dr. Simmons and Dr. Fitz call an ICER, sir, meaning that it is virtually harmless, only delivering a dose of dendrotoxin hardly large enough to temporarily incapacitate a person. Ms. Potts should be awake in about an half hour."

"Is she still at the tower?" Bruce asked, only looking slightly green, which was impressive.

"Yes, sir, she is in the sub-basement, where Zoe had been hiding, as the two had been engaged in what is referred to as hide-and-seek," Natasha almost smiled at Jarvis's mention of Zoe's favorite game, something so familiar it almost made her forget the impending crisis.

"And what about Zoe?" Steve asks, knuckles white against the blue and red outer rings of the paint on his shield. "Did Ward... did he have to shoot her too? Is she hurt? Is she at the tower? Do you know where she is?" Steve wanted to curl up in a ball and cry and just break, but also he wanted to find Zoe and protect her and shield her and keep the little girl who was a daughter to him safe, always safe. But also he wanted to find Ward and make him hurt, make him wish he'd never touched a hair on Zoe's head, and Steve Rogers had never wanted to kill anyone more than he had wanted to kill Ward right in that moment.

"Miss Zoe was incapacitated by a cloth covered in chloroform, but not before she bit Agent Ward hard enough on the forearm to break the skin quite badly," Jarvis informed them, and Steve muttered a soft "Atta girl," under his breath. "She is not injured save for a small bruise on her face and is no longer at the tower, but the tracker in her watch informs me that Ward took her to a warehouse in Brooklyn, sending you the coordinates now," Sure enough, their phones beeped, and Natasha could feel the jet slightly adjusting its flight path, probably Clint finding the shortest way to get to the warehouse.

"Is it just Ward and Zoe in the warehouse?" Bucky asked. His metal arm was clenched tightly in a threatening fist, probably something that would be meeting Grant Ward's face soon.

"No, from the heat signatures coming from the satellite surveillance line I hacked, it's a four level warehouse with the smallest of the heat signatures coming from the top level, I assume that is Miss Zoe, and there appear to be at least four hundred other heat signatures. I hacked the warehouse's security camera stream as well, and they are Hydra due to the symbols on the vests and the audio feed."

Bucky growled loudly at the mention of Hydra, but Natasha ignored it for the time being. "Is that all, Jarvis?" she asked the AI.

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff," Jarvis was still programmed to call her Ms. Romanoff, upon her request, even though she and Clint were married and her name was officially Natasha Romanoff-Barton.

"What do we do now?" Steve asked, face pale.

"We call in some real backup," Was Natasha's only answer.

Nick Fury had just returned from his last go of playing dead, and he was counting on Maria saying that everything was under control, and would he like to go out for a celebratory yay-you're-not-actually-dead dinner date. And he was counting on doing just that.

A knock on his office door was all he got before it opened to reveal the very same small, dark-haired, blue-eyed woman he'd been thinking of. But she looked worried, and very, very pissed off. "Natasha just called. Grant Ward and Hydra have taken Zoe hostage." He certainly hadn't counted on Maria saying that.

Phil Coulson was cleaning Lola when his phone rang. He debated whether or not to answer it, but when he saw it was Nick Fury, he answered immediately.

Skye, Bobbi, Jemma, Hunter, Mack, Fitz, and May were all in the common room of their current base, drinking beer even though it was hardly 3pm. Skye had been planning on a nice afternoon of laughter and a drunk Hunter, but they were still sober. She certainly had not counted on AC busting in to tell everyone that, quote, "Motherfucking Ward motherfucking took motherfucking Zoe and Lola still isn't motherfucking clean!"

Also, Skye really hadn't counted on May standing, sympathetically placing her hand on Phil's shoulder, looking into his eyes, and not-so-gently saying, "Phil, you have been spending way too much god damn time with Nicholas Fury. Now, who's ready to kick some ass?"

Sam Wilson tended to like VA meetings. Except for when he didn't. And he didn't like this VA meeting, but he supposed that might just be because Nat and Steve had just called him to tell him that his favorite god damn niece had been kidnapped. How the hell did being friends with Steve automatically mean he was doomed to a life of kicking serious Hydra ass? Oh well, he'd fly with it for now. (AN: wth is wrong w/ meeee... SORRY SAM ILY)

The quinjet landed four and a half blocks away from the warehouse, where Nat had told Fury and Sam to meet her, and she suspected at least one of them had called Phil Coulson as well, or rather she was counting on it.

Sure enough, fourteen minutes and thirty three seconds after the quinjet had arrived, two SUVs pulled up. Out of the first climbed Maria, Fury, Phil, Bobbi, and Hunter, and out of the second, Skye, FitzSimmons, Mack, and May.

Sam swooped in at nearly the same time, and by this time they had been aware of Zoe's kidnapping for just over two hours.

As soon as everyone was assembled, Tony cleared his throat. "Ok, from what Jarvis has been able to give us, there are at least four hundred Hydra agents, plus Grant Ward and Zoe. The warehouse is shockingly complex, which probably means it was changed, making it less of a warehouse and more of a secret Hydra base. There are four levels, not counting the basement. Zoe is on the top layer, and nearly all of the agents are on that floor or the one directly below, with minimal scouting on the ones below it, only three or four agents per floor and two guarding outside, one for each entrance. The plan is to break us up into six groups of three, and one group goes in and takes out the scouts, and once that group is finished, the rest of us flood in, each team going down a different corridor, and blow shit up on the first floor, but careful, we don't want to bring down the building, just enough to draw away the agents, get them away from Zoe and hopefully keep the mass of the fighting away from her, although I doubt Grant Ward will leave her. We don't go up until we've stopped every agent that comes down to us. We clear?" Tony asks. They all nod, and Tony goes on to explain the teams.

 **I'm just gonna leave off here, the rest will follow at some point next week.**

 **-Leah xx**


	49. Why You Don't Kidnap Zoe: Part Two

**Team One**

Natasha moved slyly through the doorway, Bobbi and May waiting until she'd taken out the first guard so they could enter as well. The guard faced Nat but hadn't noticed her yet, so she took advantage of that. She ran at him, and her speed and proximity gave her the upper hand, she was so close to him by the the time he noticed her that he never would have gotten his gun out in time.

Nat jumped, using her hands on his shoulders to give herself some purchase on him as she wrapped her legs around his abdomen and flipped herself backwards without loosening her grip on his stomach. He landed facefirst with a muffled grunt and stayed down, effectively unconscious.

Sure, shooting everyone immediately would get them to Zoe faster, but when it was just Natasha, May, and Bobbi, they needed to be quiet or they'd have a hundred Hydra agents on them and no backup. Clint had ended up taking out the guards near the doors, which hadn't been the original plan but had worked better.

May entered first, going up the stairs directly to Natasha's right and heading up to take out the three guards on the second floor, as they were all on the third and fourth, apparently.

Bobbi followed the older woman, but instead went down the staircase to Nat's left, to eliminate the guards in the basement. Both ladies were then supposed to rendevous with Natasha and give Tony and the rest of the teams the signal, and then the real battle was going to start.

Natasha quickly disposed of the other Hydra agents on her floor, and Bobbi and May made it back up/down to her around the same time that she roundhouse kicked her last agent in the face and he dropped like a rock.

Bobbi and May both wordlessly nodded, and Natasha activated her comm link. "Okay, move in."

 **Team Two**

Well, at least he had two very capable team members, Mack mused, pacing restlessly back and forth as they all waited for Natasha's signal. Bruce wasn't going in the warehouse, obviously, but Tony and Thor were going to flush some Hydra agents out to the Hulk for him to destroy.

Fury was going to kick ass no matter the plan, because he was, well he was Fury, and who was going to order him around? Besides Romanoff, because let's be honest, who wasn't even a tiny bit scared of Nat? Mack genuinely liked Natasha, and he definitely respected her, as a person, as an agent, and as a drinker. Nat could drink just about anyone under the table, Mack included.

And Zoe... well, Mack was one of the hundreds of people who'd kill for that little girl, to say the least. Every SHIELD agent, assosciate, and ally who'd met her adored Zoe. And with both Barton and Romanoff being very important agents, that made up literally most of SHIELD, plus the Avengers.

Mack had taken a little more time to warm up to Barton, as he'd met him well after meeting Romanoff, and some time after the Chitauri attack on New York. Having heard the stories of Barton being mind-controlled by Loki, Mack was wary, thanks to his own alien mind-control experience. But now, they were all quite close, they being Romanoff, Barton, and Mack. He babysat Zoe frequently, often more than the rest of Coulson's team.

Well, obviously not Skye, but the little sliver of a woman was constantly at the Tower, due to the fact that she was dating the Captain America. Coulson was really jealous, he cried when she told him, but he was at least happy that Skye was dating someone Coulson knew would never hurt the person who was the closest he'd ever come to a daughter.

However, Coulson's fanboy tendencies meant it had been Mack, Hunter, and May to sit Steve down and threaten the life out of him, giving him the "if you hurt Skye, we will lock you in a room with May and let her break your larynx" speech, among other assorted threats. While Steve shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his throat, May smiled fondly at the memory.

Natasha, Sam, and Bucky had, of course, gently threatened Skye, because both were too fond of her to do any real damage, but still loved their Steve. Even Natasha had gone sort of easy on Skye, telling her that instead of torturing Skye, she'd kill her painlessly if she ever cheated on Steve.

Regardless, Skye and Steve were adorable together. Mack loved that there was always someone looking out for the tiny brunette, whether it be at the Tower or with her team.

"Okay, plan's in motion!" Tony called out, sliding his faceplate down and levitating a few feet off the ground, dragging Mack from his thoughts.

Mack immediately moved over to Fury and Banner, who'd been conversing about ideas for more secure prisons for gamma-powered villains, should the problem ever arise. Each team sprang into action, grabbing weapons and grouping together.

FitzSimmons were arming themselves with mini bio-bombs, to be thrown into a room of agents, and then shut the door, lock it from the outside, and boom. They also had splinter bombs, pistols, and they strapped what looked like spray bottles onto each other before moving to their own respective teams.

Once inside the warehouse, Fury and Mack moved intentionally noisily, and within seconds they were happily taking out Hydra scum left and right. Fury spun and pointed his gun seemingly at Mack, so Mack dropped like a rock, rolling back to his feet a foot to the left just as a few gunshots went off and two agents who'd been creeping up on Mack dropped dead. No time to thank him, and Fury wasn't expecting one, as he turned back to his own battle instantaneously.

Hulk could be heard roaring and smashing things and people outside, a reassuring sound that almost made Mack smile. Almost.

 **Team Three**

Phil would never describe himself as trigger happy, but this was fun. Hydra agents falling left and right and not a single one on their side, so Phil allowed himself a little let-loose time. Thor was simultaneously rounding up agents for the Hulk and smashing them like whack-a-mole with his hammer, letting out a bellowed cry of "FOR ZOE" every so often, so that was one team mate accounted for.

Fitz had been even more enthusiastic than Phil, holding what were apparently long-range spray bottles (wait, what?) in either hand and shooting agents in the face with them, and every agent hit dropped like a rock, shuddering and then stilling. Fitz could hit someone from the other side of the room with ease, neither of his hands shaking in the least despite his residual brain damage.

Phil let a spray of bullets loose, taking down a good ten agents with a joyous cry. Okay, maybe he was a little trigger happy.

 **Team Four**

Thanking God for the high ceilings and abundant, massive windows in the warehouse, Sam shot out a window and swooped out, flitting up to the second floor and shattering a window there to assist Nat's team, the rest of his team, and Fury and Mack on that floor, as floors one and two had both been chosen as fair game until no more Hydra scum wandered down.

Sam's bird's eye view(hehe) of the scene spread out below him was helpful. Clint was just above him, perched in the rafters and shooting down at the agents flooding in from the staircase leading up to the third floor. Clint's aim was perfect as usual, but his eyes were watery, anger lining his face. Casually shooting agents down with his semi-automatic pistols, Sam scanned the floor for his other teammate.

Sam spotted Bucky in the corner nearest him, tearing at agents with his metal arm, shooting at them with his flesh arm. Sam was close enough to hear Bucky growl "this isn't near half of what you've started," at an agent who'd begged for mercy, before punching him in the face hard enough to suggest the agent wasn't just unconscious. An iron fist'll do scary things. Sam gulped, suddenly very very glad Bucky was now back on their side.

Sure, getting kicked off a helicarrier creates a pretty strong grudge, but Bucky had been brainwashed, and honestly, the two had grown pretty close over the fear that Steve would do something stupidly brave and heroic and get himself killed. Lately, Sam had also noticed they were both fiercely protective of Skye, for many reasons, two being that she made Steve happy and that was important, and also she was tiny and lovable and kind of like a kitten, ferocious but mostly just fluff with sharp claws. However, that earthquake power of hers was a good reason to never piss her off.

Sam had learned that, before the serum, Bucky had been like Steve's self-appointed protector, and it appeared that, since Steve very rarely needed one nowadays, Bucky had molded that trait to fit both Skye and Zoe. Mostly Skye though, Bucky respected Steve and Zoe's close bond and let Steve do most of the Zoe-protecting, and while Steve was Skye's boyfriend, Bucky was practically her older brother.

Knowing of Skye's terrible past, Sam thought it was lovely that she now had a bunch of SHIELD agents, the Black Widow, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and Sam ready to protect her at all costs. Yeah, Nat adored Skye too. Who didn't?

Speaking of Skye, Sam watched as the building vibrated a little, courtesy of Skye getting angry, or maybe just letting Hydra and Ward know just who the hell they'd pissed off.

Rolling his eyes and shaking thoughts of Skye and Steve from his mind, Sam swooped back into the fray of bullets, arrows, fists, and chemical warfare to joyously kick some heads in.

This was gonna be fun.

 **THIS IS MY SECOND TO LAST PART IN THIS FIC! THE LAST TWO TEAMS ARE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE REALLY LONG SECTIONS SO I THOUGHT I'D CUT OFF HERE, AND ALSO I START SCHOOL THIS WEEK SO SORRY IF THE NEXT UPLOAD IS NEXT SUNDAY NOT NEXT SATURDAY!**

 **Yes, Sam and Steve and Bucky are adorable and we should all fawn over them. And yes, I ship Skye and Steve. And Skye and Nat. And Nat and Steve. And Nat and Clint. And Bucky and Jemma. And FitzSimmons. And Jemma and Clint(crackship much?). But my main head canon is Clintasha, CaptainQuake(Steve/Skye), WinterScientist(Bucky/Jemma), Huntingbird, Pepperony, and Philinda all rolled into one big verse-burrito, but I also love literally all the ships. If you're reading this, use the word penguin in the review you leave!**

 **-Leah xx**


	50. Why You Don't Kidnap Zoe: Part Three

**Hey guys, sorry I've been gone for such a long time, school started up and I ended up being a lot busier than I thought I would be. But the good news is, after this upload, WYDKZ(why you don't kidnap zoe) is DONE and FINISHED and no more long parts and we are back to adorable Clintasha blurbs so... yeah. Unless WYDKZ was your favorite so far... then, well, oops. Quick question- do any of my lovely readers watch criminal minds? If so HMU! Enjoy the third and final piece of WYDKZ! Warning: character death ahead**

Maria really had the worst luck. First, her niece got kidnapped, by Grant Ward of all people, an agent who Maria herself had vetted. And then, she got stuck with Tony Stark and Lance Hunter as mission partners. Tony, at least, was in a metal suit, therefore very hard to kill. Hunter, on the other hand, was a pretty good agent, but often made bad choices, and was, for all intents and purposes, stupid when it came to this. Whenever someone he cared about was in danger, he was a bloody idiot.

"Eeeeek!' Maria whipped around at the girlish scream. Hunter was cornered by just two agents, and seemingly out of ammo. Maria rolled her eyes and began to fight her way over to him, but before she could reach him, there was a flash of red and both agents were on the ground.

Natasha.

The redhead didn't even stop to yell at Hunter as she normally would, much too determined to find her daughter.

A crash behind Maria reminded her that she could not stop, that she could not let up on the fighting to sink into her thoughts. That would be a drastically fatal mistake. She whipped around and jumped back into the fray.

"Maria!" she heard coming from her right, towards the stairs to the third floor. Skye. She and Jemma were inching their way towards the third floor, Steve paving the way for the two smaller people. He seemed to have taken this job very literally, bashing people out of the way ruthlessly. Maria fought her way over to Skye.

"We need cover up the stairs," Skye said.

"W-what? Aren't we fighting up to Zoe, not sending in an infiltration team?" Maria asked. Instead of answering, Skye turned Maria's head to the side.

"Your comm isn't in your ear. Must've fallen out in the fight. We've changed the plans, it was all over the comms. Jemma, Steve, and I are going to infiltrate and Bucky's providing solo backup. We just need you to cover us with Steve when we move in, and then after Steve follows us up, feel free to jump back in, but please keep an eye on our stairwell just in case. Thanks, Maria." Skye said.

"Got it. Cover, Steve, stairwell, Bucky as backup only." Maria nods. Skye smiles just a little, and the two women reach Jemma, who's cautiously following Steve. Skye moves ahead of Maria, and Maria covers them from behind, back to Skye and Jemma. When Steve reached the stairwell, he peeled around to help Maria cover the entrance, and Skye and Jemma went up. After a moment of blockading, Steve pivoted and careened up the stairs, in a desperate rush to get to his Skye and make sure she was okay. No doubt Bucky would be in a similar rush when he appeared. A rush to see one of the maybe four or five people that Bucky needed alive to survive. Jemma, Steve, Skye, and Zoe, and maybe Tasha and/or Sam if you were really thinking about it.

Maria practically felt the bullet whiz by her ear as she only just managed to dodge it. She was once again reminded that mostly, fighting can't be all about thinking, it has to be instinct.

No thinking, just fighting.

Bucky dashed past Maria wordlessly, a simple nod in her direction to let her know that he knew she had covered and probably would continue to cover the entrance to the stairwell. He dashed up the stairs to the third floor, and, upon finding it empty save for a few unconscious or dead guards, raced up to the fourth.

And nearly crashed into Steve's back right at the top.

"What the hell, Stevie?" Bucky muttered as he caught his balance.

"B-Buck…." Steve only barely managed to get out.

At the distress in Steve's voice, Bucky peered around Steve, and what he saw made him want to faint. Grant Ward held guns to the heads of both Skye and Jemma, Zoe chainlinked to the wall and only barely visible behind Ward, Skye, and Jemma.

Jemma, who looked deathly afraid. Bucky's Jemma, who'd he'd promised Coulson he'd always keep safe. Jemma, whose face was a ghastly white and she was mouthing something to Bucky. Bucky focused on her, and his heart felt like it was shattering when he saw that she was repeating the words "I love you. Save Zoe." That meant that Jemma expected Bucky to save Zoe instead of Jemma. That meant that Jemma thought he would leave her behind. He was never, ever going to do that. He would save all three of the girls no matter what, even if it was the last thing he ever did. Bucky was going to save Skye, he was going to save Zoe, and he was going to save his Jemma. He would. He had too. Bucky also needed to make sure that Steve got out so that Steve could look after Skye, and his niece, and Jemma, just in case something happened to Bucky.

"Ward, just… just let them go. If you love Skye, let them go. You're not going to hurt Skye, are you?" Steve tried to reason with the psychopath, voice shaky but persistent.

"Don't." Ward warned. "Don't try to reason with me, I'm not some petty criminal," he scoffed. "And no, I won't hurt Skye, she's mine. Mine, do you hear me?!" Ward begins to shout. Bucky's metal arm curled into a fist without his noticing.

"That's right, Grant, I'm yours! All yours, just let Zoe and Jemma go. You don't want to hurt me, and if you let them go, you can have me," Skye said, and Bucky nearly felt Steve's objection die in his throat, noting that Skye was probably working an angle to free everyone, and the good captain let her continue. "Please, just let them go, I want to… I want to be alone with you. Please, Grant?"

A long moment followed the end of Skye's pleas. "Jemma is going to slowly reach into my left coat pocket and remove the key to Zoe's chains. Once Zoe is free, they will all leave and you will stay, or I will kill Jemma, and you," Ward said. Jemma did as he asked, retrieving the key.

They all knew that Ward was bluffing when it came to killing Skye, but no one wanted to risk Jemma. And Steve and Bucky trusted Skye's decisions and knew that she probably had a trick or two hidden up her sleeve.

The second Zoe's chains hit the ground with a clink, she sprinted to Steve, who scooped her up and covered her entire body with his shield, which also guarded part of his chest. Jemma all but collapsed into Bucky, who immediately scooped her up, kissing her forehead.

Bucky gave a Skye a gentle look, a silent promise that said "We're coming back for you,". Skye just nodded a tiny nod, and Bucky followed Steve and Zoe out the door, Jemma safe in his arms. The second the door shut behind them, Bucky had Jemma on her feet and peppered her face with kisses, wiping away the tears that trickled lightly down her cheeks.

"Are you alright? Please tell me you're okay. Oh my god please be oka-" Bucky rambled, but she cut him off.

"Bucky, I promise you, I'm fine. I'm fine," Jemma said, and Bucky only slightly relaxed, pulling Jemma against him, burying his face in her hair and pressing his lips to the top of her head.

"I can't lose you, ever. I love you so much. You know that, right? You know that I love you?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, Bucky, I know that. And I love you too, James Buchanan Barnes." Jemma replied.

While Bucky held Jemma, Steve was worrying over Zoe, and waiting for something to happen in where Skye was, something to allow her to back with him.

"Zoe? Are you okay?" Steve fretted.

"I bit him, Uncle Steve!" Zoe announced proudly, seemingly too young to be really truly fazed.

"Yes you did, Zoe, yes you did," Steve's voice was choked with happiness at her apparent resilience.

Thumping behind him made Steve whip around, bristled and ready to defend Zoe to the death.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Zoe shrieked, laughing, and sure enough, it was Clint and Natasha. They came running over and Natasha took her daughter into her arms. Clint wrapped his arms around both of his girls, kissing both of their heads, crying with happiness.

Natasha suddenly looked up, noticing something amiss. "Skye?" she asked.

"She's in there with… him." Steve forced out.

Natasha's eyes darkened. Handing Zoe to Clint, she stormed straight through the door into where Ward and Skye were. Ward looked over at her in surprise, but she completely ignored the gun he pointed at her. Sure enough, instead of firing at Natasha, he simply threw a knife at her, which she dodged without an issue. Skye helped by disarming him while he was distracted, but she let Natasha go in for the kill. After all, it had been Nat's daughter and three of her closest friends(Skye, Jemma, Pepper) that he had attacked and/or kidnapped. Natasha had earned this one.

The Black Widow was on a warpath, and that was bad news for anyone on the receiving end. She pulled a gun as she strode up to him, and whipped him across the face with the barrel as soon as she was close enough. Natasha kneed him in the balls the second he semi-recovered from the first blow. When he finally straightened up fully, he found himself staring down the barrel of Nat's gun.

"Please, Agent Romanoff, don't," Ward begged.

Natasha just rolled her eyes. "Whatever, asshole,"

And she pulled the trigger.

 **YAYYYYYY! It's done! Fin! Over! I did it! Yay! Comment requests, leave a review, and I'll see yall later!**

 **-Leah xx**


	51. Sick Days

**Hello people! Yes, it's a Tuesday and I upload on Saturdays, but I was home sick from school today so I wrote a little and felt like uploading. Hi. Have a nice day everyone!**

Natasha hated being sick, and Clint knew that. Knew she hated feeling weak, hated feeling like she needed help from anyone, even Clint. But whenever Natasha was sick, he was careful to still treat her a little more gently than usual. Breakfast in bed instead of just making it for her and waiting for her to come out. Mint tea instead of coffee, soup for dinner instead of chicken and rice or porkchops or whatever they were having that night.

 **If what Clint did was super duper obvious, Natasha would roll her eyes and tell him, "I can take care of myself, Barton," but she secretly loved him even more for caring enough about her to do all these things. When he had to go to work but he knew she'd been feeling awful the night before, he'd leave a note, along with a glass of ice water and some Tylenol. The note was always slightly different, but they were always sweet, and read something like this:**

 _Dear Nat,_

 _Don't be mad at me, but you hardly slept last night, and don't try and deceive me, I know you're sick, so I shut off your alarm and told Fury that you're out today. Try to get some rest, I left The Notebook in the dvd player and a soup can next to the pot on the stove. Paper Towns is in your drawer_ (at which point Natasha would open her bedside table drawer and smile at the fact that yes, it was) _, so just relax today, okay? I'm going to try to come home early night. See you as soon as possible, I love you._

 **** ** _-Clint xx_**

 **And when Clint got home that afternoon, after threatening to fart in Fury's vents unless he got the evening off, she'd look at him and act like he should have left her alarm on, but they both knew that she was grateful, and he'd ignore the glare and flop down next to her, to catch the end of The Notebook with his Natasha.**

She would, despite that glare earlier, curl into him and rest her head on his shoulder, allowing him to wrap an arm around her and trace little shapes on her back. Natasha hated being sick, but she didn't hate sick days with Clint.

 **Best review gets a note from Clint! Leave a review telling me how your day was, and follow me on twitter haiitsleah1 for shoutouts and love and DM's and PM's from me!**

 **-Leah xx**


	52. Two Quick Poems

Nat:

From the ashes

Where my old life crashes

I rise with my red hair

And eat men like air

Clint:

From the betrayal of my brother

And death of my father and mother

I rise with my bow and arrow

And become a hawk not a sparrow

 **Hey! Leave a review and follow me on twitter haiitsleah1, and IG is the same! Love you all, until next time**

 **-Leah xx**


	53. Wolf

**Quickfic written to the lyrics of Wolf by First Aid Kit. Not so much Clintasha as it is just Clint and Nat. Mostly Natasha though. Little bit confusing, but it's basically a patchwork of one of Natasha's nightmares, a memory from the Red Room. Sorry if it's too confusing for you to read, but the good news is, I'm back! I took a really long break and I'm sorry about that, I was having personal issues and needed to get away from all of it for a bit. Hopefully, I will be able to upload occasionally, although I am currently tragically busy. By the way, Natasha and Natalia are, as usual, the same person.**

 _Wolf mother, where you been?_

 _You look so worn, so thin_

 _You're a taker, a devil's maker_

Natasha was so tired. After a long fight to take down an alien weapons trafficking ring, she was curled up in a corner with all of the bodies, waiting for Clint's all-clear signal to come through her comm. She'd taken all of those lives, creating the devil in her wake. Her left arm was bleeding from a gunshot graze wound, and the blood loss was making her slightly dizzy.

"Nat? Honey, are you there?" Clint's voice crackled in over her damaged comm. After a few minutes of silence, he tries again, this time reaching out for anyone on site. "This is Agent Barton, looking for Agent Romanoff, does anyone copy?" The name Agent Barton finally snapped her out of it.

"This is Agent Romanoff," she took a shaky breath. "I copy,"

 _When I run through the deep dark forest long after this begun,_

 _Where the sun would set,_

 _The trees were dead,_

 _And the rivers were none_

Natasha was dreaming. She knew that. After the mission, Clint and Nat had gone home, went to bed, and she'd started dreaming. Dreaming of the Red Room, and yet here she was. Running fast through the maze-like structure in which they put Red Room assassins on their tenth birthdays. Three trained killers were after her, and if she could find her way out of the Red Room without being killed, then she moved on, stayed alive.

She ran and ran, until finally she could no longer hear them laughing. Calling out for her. Confident that they would get her, kill the ten year old little Russian girl. And they were happy about it. "Natalia," they cooed. "Come out, come out wherever you are,"

Natalia picked herself back up onto her feet and kept going the second she could hear them chanting again. Running and running and running. She just kept running.

 _I hope for a trace to lead me back home from this place_

 _But there was no sound,_

 _There was only me, and my disgrace_

Ten-year-old Natalia stood over the body of one of the three trained killers. He'd gone right by her, so she'd crept up to him and stolen one of the knives sheathed in his belt, and before he even knew what was happening, she pushed off a rock, clutched onto his shoulders with his knees, and slit his throat. Back when she was little her father, who she hadn't seen in five years to the day, said that hurting other people made you a disgrace. Natalia was a disgrace.

And she knew she was asleep, she knew that she wasn't actually back in the maze, but for some reason Natasha couldn't do it, couldn't wake up. It was almost like she could feel the weight of Clint's arm around her waist and his chest against her back, and yet she still couldn't come back. Couldn't just wake up and go home. And now it was just her, alone with the disgrace.

 _Wayward winds,_

 _The voice that sings,_

 _Of a forgotten land_

 _See it fall_

 _Child of all_

 _Lend a mending hand_

 _BANG!_ The explosion was louder than the little ten-year-old had thought it would be. She'd found the bomb, the cracked column, and knew that she'd have to run fast in order to escape the blast that would hopefully kill the last two men tracking her. When it did blow up, it knocked the running Natalia flat on her face.

The ringing in her ears was nonstop and painful. All the girl wanted to do was curl up and sleep, which she knew she couldn't do. Natalia picked herself part of the way up and crawled to a nearby doorframe, although the door had been blown off. She pulled herself through and propped herself up, safely barricaded. Now that she had cover, Nat stopped to check her injuries and take inventory. Her legs appeared to be in working order, which was the most important piece, and the knife that she'd stolen was still tucked inside her catsuit. There was a slice taken out of her forehead by a frag, and it was leaking a nasty amount of blood into her left eye and almost entirely blocking her vision. There was also a cut on the back of her head, mixing red liquid with red hair. But they were dead, she was sure of it. She'd heard them, and if they were in her earshot then they were close enough to the bomb to be dead.

And Natalia was alive, and she was going to stay alive until her wounds had fully healed, as the Red Room did not see the point in working with damaged product, so they'd actually take care of her, which was a first. A single tear slipped from her left eye, and when she wiped it away, the water was twisted with blood and the dirt covering her hand. But she was alive, for now. The maze was crumbling down around her.

 _Wolf mother, where you been?_

 _You look so worn, so thin_


	54. I Would Have Loved You All My Life

"Okay, guys, easy mission, in and out. You two can handle this, right?" Bruce asks, and Tony scoffed beside him in the copilot seat.

"Dude, it's freaking _Clintasha,_ they can handle this," Tony replies.

The two of them (Bruce and Tony) had offered to pilot Clint and Nat out to their drop site, wanting to see them off as it was 11pm on the day before Natasha's birthday, and they probably wouldn't see the two deadly assassins until the day after. Tony and Bruce were, no matter how much they'd deny it, were very attached to both Nat and Clint, and badly wished that they could be with their favorite Russian on her birthday. Steve and Thor wanted to go with them, but Fury needed them. Sam was busy, but sent his love.

"Anthony Edward _freaking_ Stark, how many times have I asked you not to call us that?" Natasha smirks. She was in a surprisingly good mood for pre-mission stress.

"We're here, lovebirds," Tony says.

Natasha and Clint strap on their parachute packs, and Bruce counts them down. "5, 4, 3, 2... give 'em hell," he murmurs, and opens the hatch. Nat and Clint do their lucky handshake (fist bump, explode it, come back in for a high five and slap each other's butts), and hold hands as they throw themselves from the plane.

Clint watches Natasha, same as always, in the forty or so seconds that they are falling from the plane. He loves her, all of her, and he's loved her for what, ten years now? Still, this is one of his favorite things. The way a soft, carefree smile graces her face, as if when she's falling she can forget about the bad things that had happened to her. The way her tiny hand locked tightly onto his, refusing to let go no matter which way the wind pulled them. Clint remembered one time he'd actually dislocated his shoulder during a drop because they refused to let go of each other's hands. Fury had been pissed at them for easily a month after that, and yet they still held hands every single drop.

Natasha's hair is flying back from her face, and she has tiny tear streaks along her temple line from the wind pushing liquid from her eyes along the sides of her face. But she was happy, and because Natasha was happy, Clint was happy.

It was her birthday in 53 minutes and Clint was happy he was here to spend it with her. Happy they'd both lived, survived everything the world had thrown at the two of them. And Clint could feel it in his heart - he knew he would love her for the rest of his life.

 **(TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY CLINT IN A TUTU)**

"C'mon, Clint, we gotta move!" Nat yelled from the doorway as Clint finished off the last guard. The whole idea of the mission was to break into a Hydra base, download the data from their computer systems, and then wipe the systems. Natasha had the flashdrive in her hand, and they were just about to leave when two guards dropped in through the window nearest Clint. Nat wanted so badly to help him, but she had to watch the doorway. She couldn't shoot them because Clint's hand to hand fighting style was all over the place, and not even the Black Widow was good enough to be sure she wouldn't accidentally clip him with a bullet. And they could not risk that right now.

Finally Clint ducked a punch, twisted, and roundhouse kicked him in the head so hard that he dropped like a rock, unmoving.

"Like I said, Nat, I had 'em on the ropes."

"Okay, well, you just keep quoting our good old Captain Grandpa, but we've gotta get a move on. Extraction can only wait so long, and they're landing in three hours." Nat smiles.

They sneak out into the hall and creep slowly along the edge, farther into the compound, where they knew that the control rooms were located, and from there, they could wipe Hydra's system(well, this branch of it) and plant a timed bomb to blow up the compound.

Hearing guards moving around and talking in the room just ahead, Natasha turns to Clint and signaled for him to get ready.

Natasha paused just before the doorway and took a breath. "I am beauty, I am grace, I will kick you in the face," she mutters under her breath, and then launches herself through the doorway, Clint following close behind.

Clint smirks softly, rolling his eyes at the phrase she'd taught herself as he took on a guard.

There were only five or so guards on watch in that room, which turned out to be a large research lab, with weird glowing rabbits and donkeys.

Natasha flips backwards onto a guard's shoulders and electrocutes him with her Black Widow Bites. He falls forward and she somersaults off him, coming up into a crouch before her second target. She nut punches him (sorry I had to) and sweeps his legs from under him with a single kick.

Clint cringes when he watches Natasha nut punch the guard, knowing how badly it hurts to get hit in the balls by the Black Widow, but quickly refocuses when a guard charges him, fist extended. Clint grabs the guard's arm, twists it, and then flips him with it, causing the guard to hit the group with a sickening crack, unmoving.

A few seconds later, the couple stands and brushes themselves off, having fully incapacitated each and every guard in the room. Normally, they would have just snuck past the room, but since they had to go so deep into the compound, they didn't want to risk an alarm going off and suddenly being surrounded. They needed an escape route, and destroying everyone on their way in would certainly make going out much easier.

"Well, that was easy," Clint smirks, but Nat frowns.

"Yeah, nearly too easy, wouldn't you say?" Nat says. Clint shrugs it off.

"You're overthinking this, Nat. Just accept that Hydra agents are all retards and you'll be much more worry-free." Clint says.

Natasha sighs, but regardless, she follows Clint back into the hallway and deeper into the facility. They move quickly, occasionally taking the time to chokehold a hallway guard into unconsciousness and stuffing him in a closet. Finally, they reach a large set of double doors labelled **_FACILITY CONTROLS._** Natasha pushes it open silently and Clint trails after her.

There's a long hallway, and then a few rooms. It's silent, too silent. Natasha hears a guard coming around the corner, and before Clint can blink, Nat and the guard are on the ground with her knee on his throat, and then she's punched him in the face and he's out cold. Clint stares, still in awe of how amazing the Black Widow is.

Nat smiles at his surprised face. "What do I always say?" She whispers. Clint rolls his eyes.

"You are beauty, you are grace, you will kick me in the face," Clint mutters. She pats his cheek.

"Atta boy,"

( **TIME SKIP PRESENTED BY CLINT TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO DANCE - ENJOY)**

"C'mon, Nat!" Clint shouted over the fray of gunfire. Natasha was maybe twenty yards behind him, and they had maybe thirty seconds until the bomb blew everyone to pieces. They had to get out of there. Natasha was walking backwards towards him, trying to keep as many of the Hydra agents within explosive range as possible.

"Natasha, we gotta go!" Clint tried again. Fifteen seconds. Ten... nine... eight...

"NATASHA ROMANOFF!" He screamed. Finally, she turned and began sprinting towards him. Five... four... three... two... BANG! The last thing Clint saw was Natasha being blown towards him before a piece of rubble hit him and he fell unconscious.

 **QUICK TIME SKIP TO THE EXTRACTION JET LANDING AT AVENGERS TOWER**

Clint felt the jet land and stood, bloody and exhausted. He dragged himself off the plane, only to find all the other Avengers there.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATASHA!" They all shouted, and then frowned. Clint searched the crowd of faces, not speaking a word. He saw Sam, Steve, Bucky, Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Nick Fury, Coulson and his team, and Maria Hill.

"Hate to be obvious, but where's Nat, Birdbrain?" Tony asks. Clint stares emptily at him before softly shaking his head.

Everyone gasps and a few immediately begin crying. Skye falls into Steve's arms, sobs wracking her tiny body. Fury immediately turns around and leaves, and Bucky screams to the heavens, punching a hole in the wall.

"No..." Tony murmurs. "C'mon, man, seriously, where's Natasha? This isn't funny. It's... it's her birthday," he whispers, hot tears beginning to drip down his face.

"She.. she died. Natasha died." Clint's voice is hoarse, and with those five words he pushes his way through the silence and heads to the room he used to share with his Natasha. Flopping on the bed, he shuts his eyes, sobbing noiselessly.

 _FLASHBACK: ( **i.e: this is what happened to Natasha** )_

 _The last thing Clint saw was Natasha being blown towards him before a piece of rubble hit him and he fell unconscious._

 _Clint woke suddenly, groaning as he reached up to his head, only to find blood._ Wait... where's Natasha? _He wonders, and that thought alone made him jump to his feet. The scene before him was a gory mess of Hydra agents, blown to pieces, and rubble scattered across the now empty field. Only the slightest pieces of foundation remained where the massive facility had been. Clint scans the rubble, looking for any sign that Natasha is alive. Nothing. He looks again, checking for any signs of Natasha at all. Until finally, he sees it. A lock of red hair, next to a fallen beam. He sprints over to it, ignoring the pain in his entire body._

 _When he finally reaches her, what he sees makes him stop dead in his tracks. Natasha is lying there, a beam across her abdomen, legs under a slab of concrete and probably totally crushed. "No... no, Nat, c'mon, wake up!" Clint cries, running over to her, sitting down, putting her head in his lap. "Open your eyes, baby," he sobs._

 _With a bloody sounding cough, those green eyes he'd come to love so much opened. "C-Clint?" Natasha croaks._

 _"It's me, Nat, you're gonna be okay,"_

 _"No, I'm not. I'm dying, aren't I?," Natasha asks. Clint's tears drip onto Natasha's face._

 _"You're gonna be just fine, I promise." He says, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself of that, too._

 _"I'm dying, Clint. Hold my hand please. I don't want to die alone, please hold my hand," she begs._

 _Clint shakes his head. "I'm not going to hold your hand, because you're not dying and you're not alone,"_

 _"Clint. I can't feel my legs, and I'm honestly not even sure that they are still there. My stomach was hurting, but now it's not. I don't feel any pain, Clint, and I should be. I'm dying, so just... just hold my hand," says Natasha, and when she tries to inhale, she coughs and suddenly her lips are painted red._

 _A sob bubbling from his lips, Clint takes her hand with one of his, and with the other he strokes her hair lightly._

 _"I love you, so much," Natasha says, voice getting weaker._

 _"I love you too... always." They sit in silence for a moment, Clint just thanking God for every breath that she takes._

 _"Clint?"_

 _"Yes, Nat?"_

 _"Sing for me. I always loved it when you sang," she gazes up at him, eyes slightly glazed._

 _"Okay, baby. Anything for you." Clint thinks for a second, and then begins partway through the first bit of Natasha's favorite song, Losing Your Memory by Ryan Star._

 _"Call all your friends,_

 _And tell them I'm never coming back,_

 _Cause this is the end,_

 _Pretend that you want it,_

 _Don't react._

 _The damage is done,_

 _The police are coming too slow now._

 _I would have died,_

 _I would have loved you all my life." Clint's voice cracks, but he clears his throat and continues with the chorus._

 _"You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory..._

 _Now," Natasha coughs again, more blood rising to her lips._

 _"Where have you gone,_

 _The beach is so cold in winter here,_

 _And where have I gone,_

 _I'd wake in Montauk,_

 _With you, near,_

 _Remember the day,_

 _Cause this is what change should always be,_

 _I just want to stay,_

 _I just want to keep this dream in me..." Clint's tears drip onto Natasha's hair and his hand._

 _"You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory now,_

 _You're losing your memory..._

 _Now," Natasha sighs softly, her eyes glaze over, and her head drops to side just before Clint can finish the second chorus._

 _Clint stares at her, tears streaming down his face. He sits there for what feels like seconds, but must have been hours, because before he knows it there's a SHIELD copter landing a couple hundred feet away and then agents are running towards him, asking if he's alright, but all Clint hears is buzzing. "_ No, I'm not alright. Natasha is dead. Nothing will ever be alright again _," he thinks, but instead of saying anything, he presses a final kiss to Natasha's cold lips and stands._

 _FLASHBACK OVER_

Clint opens his puffy eyes to an empty room.

"I miss you, Natasha. I would have loved you all my life,"

 **I'M SO SORRY FOR THIS IDEK PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!**

 **-Leah**


	55. Keep You Safe

**Okay, so in this one Clint and Natasha have only just started dating! Hope that clears up any confusion. I picture them knowing each other for about five years by this point. But I swear that she is not gonna die in this one... I think. I dunno.**

Clint was screwed. Absolutely, totally screwed. He had only just gotten the love of his life to say yes to dating - it had literally only been like three weeks. And all he wanted to do was tell her he loved her, but he couldn't do that because this was Natasha. This was Red Room trained, barely-trusts-anyone Natasha, and if he told her he loved her so soon then he would lose her. She would get scared and he would lose her.

But now they were on a mission and things didn't look so good, and all Clint wanted to do was keep Natasha safe. All he could think about was getting her out alive. He loved her, and his personal safety wasn't important as long as Natasha was okay. And as much as confessing his love would scare Natasha, being in love scared Clint easily twice that. And even then he couldn't imagine anything worse than just the very idea of losing Natasha.

That very same Russian yelling his name dragged him from his thoughts. "Clint! We gotta move, c'mon!" Nat made to head through the doorway over the loud gunfire, and at the very last second Clint saw it. A motion sensor in the door, inhibiting them from leaving, and probably rigged to some kind of explosive that would have killed them. Clint dove for Natasha, tackling her sideways away from the door, pulling her out of the line of fire behind a flipped over desk. The HYDRA agents continued shooting, but the desk appeared to have metal reinforcements and held strong.

Natasha slowly sat up, a little banged up from the sudden change of direction. "Ugh, ow," she muttered, holding her left arm, which had been crushed against the ground. "What the hell, Barton?" Nat practically yelled as soon as she had her bearings.

"Just... hold on a second," Clint barely got out, glad he caught the motion sensor in the doorway in time. Drawing an arrow into his quiver, Clint aimed for the sensor in the doorway. As soon as the arrow made contact, a small explosion occurred that definitely would have killed Natasha and would have seriously injured Clint, from where they were standing.

"Ok, thanks for that," Natasha breathed, pushing her hair messily out of her face. They sat for a moment breathing hard, until finally Natasha spoke. "Ok, ok, we gotta go." She still seemed a little shaken, but she's the Black Widow, shaken isn't in her vocabulary. She pulled out both of her guns and motioned for Clint to follow her.

And Clint was just glad she was alive.

 **(TIME SKIP PRESENTED BY NATASHA OUT DRINKING TONY AND THEN LAUGHING WHEN HE PASSES OUT)**

Natasha shot deftly, never missing a single target. She was focused on the people on the ground, and Clint was amazed by how flawless she was. He watched her, but at the same time he also saw everyone and hit everyone he was supposed to be shooting with arrows. Natasha was amazing at every single thing she did, so Clint thanked God that he was at least good at multitasking so that he could marvel at Natasha and keep them both alive.

Until, from his place directly beside Natasha, he saw it. The barrel of a sniper rifle, peeking out of the window of the compound. Pointed at the ever so amazing Natasha. And so Clint dove, just as the gunshot rang out. Dove for Natasha, tackled her behind a car and his heart hung in his chest as he waited to be reassured that he had been fast enough, quick enough to save Natasha.

"Are you okay?" Clint breathed out, staring down into her eyes. He was all but laying on top of her, although his arms were keeping him from leaning his entire bodyweight on the tiny little barely-100-pound Russian.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Thanks for that. But I can take care of myself, you know. You don't have to keep saving me, _Prince Charming_." Natasha mocked teasingly as they both sat up.

"Yes, I do," The words slipped out before Clint could stop them, and Natasha scoffed, obviously slightly irked by the comment from the archer.

"Oh, yeah? And why is that?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I-um-I... just forget I said anything." Clint muttered, and then stood up, but Natasha rose, too, and took his elbow, tugging them both out of range of the enemy.

"No, tell me!" Natasha demanded.

Clint sighed. He was completely, utterly backed into a corner. On one hand, he could refuse to tell Natasha how much he loved her, and she might never trust him again. And on the other hand, he could tell her that he loved her, and she might never trust him again. Ah, screw it.

"I love you," he mumbled.

Natasha heard him, but she hardly wanted to believe it. "You what?" she asked, after a moment of complete silence.

"I love you, more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life, and I don't want to lose you, because I know you're scared of anything that slightly resembles commitment, but I l-" Natasha cut off a rambling Clint with a kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Natasha couldn't help but smile. "I love you too... I think. I have no idea. I can't remember the last time someone told me they loved me and really meant it... I can't remember the last time I loved someone," she said, almost shyly, like she didn't want to admit to her horrible childhood.

Clint's heart ached when he saw the look of a lost, frightened child in her green eyes. He brought her in for a long, gentle hug in the midst of gunfire and explosions. Clint pressed a kiss to her gorgeous red curls.

"It's okay," he murmured, lips still nearly pressed against her head. "I'll always keep you safe,"

 **Natasha and Clint are goals. I mean honestly, GOALS! And thanks for all the reviews these days. Love you all!**


	56. Don't Let Me Go

**Civil War Trailer Inspired... I'M SO SORRY I LOVE YOU ALL PLS DON'T KILL ME**

Natasha stared out the window of the safe house, wondering if Clint was safe out there. Tony and Steve had had a nasty fight today, and lots of people had died. Rhodey was patching up a nasty cut above Tony's eye, and Vision sat silently, watching the team.

Clint and Natasha had fought today, actual hand-to-hand combat, the first time they'd fought (not counting sparring) since that time that Loki had taken Clint. Natasha was scared. Scared that she was going to lose the man that she had loved for so long. The archer was one of the few people who she couldn't live without, but of course they couldn't just _compromise_ on this. This was too big for a compromise. Of course Nat thought that superheroes and superhuman-training facilities should be registered, because maybe if that had been the case then the Red Room would never have been created. Maybe, if registering had been required, then Natasha would have been spared.

But that most definitely didn't stop Natasha from missing Clint like crazy. What if he'd been hurt after she'd run off? What if he was dead? What if they would never be able to look at each other the same way again? What if this was a wake-up call for Clint, that she was just too broken, too wrong for him?

"Please, Clint," Natasha murmured to the night sky, voice inaudible over the loud chatter in the safe house, "don't let me go,"

Clint stared blankly at the wall, wondering where Natasha was. If she was okay. If she missed him. If she hated him. If he'd hurt her today. They'd _fought,_ like, really fought, and Clint was scared that he was going to lose her now. Scared that this fight between Tony and Steve would mark the end of Natasha and Clint. Scared that one or both of them wouldn't make it out alive. Scared that he would and she wouldn't. Clint didn't know how to live without Natasha. He'd loved her for so long, _needed_ her for so long, that he didn't know how he was meant to function if he was to lose her now. Over this.

As much as Clint was on Bucky and Steve's side, part of him hated Bucky for causing all of this, starting this war. He hated Bucky for taking Nat away from him, for driving this wedge between Clint and his favorite Russian.

What if this was the thing that ended Clint and Natasha? What if this fight meant that she never looked at him the same way again? What if they could never be the same Clint and Natasha after this? He knew and completely understood why she was siding with Tony on this, but he felt so strongly that superhumans should not be registered. Clint knew that he could have convinced Natasha to compromise on this, but he also knew that if he did that, then somewhere down the line, whether it be three days or five years, she would resent him for it. He knew that at some point, Natasha would _hate_ him for it. And that was a consequence that Clint could not live with.

But what if he lost Natasha? What if she let him go? "Please," Clint whisper-begged to Natasha, wherever she may have been, "don't let me go,"

 **I'M SO SORRY BUT I JUST SAW THE SUPERBOWL CACW TRAILER AND I WAS LIKE: "I WONDER WHAT CLINT AND NATASHA ARE THINKING RIGHT NOW" SO I MADE THIS AND I REGRET IT VERY MUCH BUT IT'S ALSO KIND OF LOVELY BECAUSE WHAT IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOES HAPPEN AND THEN IT TURNS OUT THAT LAURA WAS THEIR SURROGATE BC NATASHA CAN'T HAVE KIDS(THIS IS ME TOTALLY IGNORING THE CLINT/LAURA KISS, AND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, TOTALLY IGNORING BRUTASHA *shudders)**

 **Guys check out my other story, Marvel Imagines! You can request a personal imagine! Seriously, check it out! Just go to my profile and it should be there, although I only just put it up.**


	57. Somebody To Die For

**CHECK OUT MY NOTE AT THE END!**

Clint would die for Natasha. No matter what, Natasha came first. Before him, before anything, Natasha came first. That was terrifying. To him, and to her. However, Clint had always felt that perhaps a motivation like the feelings he had for Natasha made him a better agent. When he was standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded, he thought of getting home to Natasha and suddenly that was the only thing he could think about, the only motivation he needed to survive. He was her archer, through and through.

Natasha had never had someone to die for, except for herself. She'd been her own crutch for as long as she could remember, until Clint came along. And now she was completely reliant on Clint being okay. She'd take a bullet for him. She'd do anything for him, and for the Red Room assassin, that was absolutely terrifying. She'd survived the Red Room on the idea that she was all that she needed to stay alive, and that was no longer the case. She had somebody to die for, and as scary as that was, getting to see Clint at the end of the day calmed Natasha. She would die for him, no questions asked. She was his spider, through and through.

 **Guys, you've got to check out the website alternate (earths) dotcom (take out the parentheses and use an actual dot). It's a little like this one, but you can upload video, artwork, stories, or really anything your little heart desires. You can find me on there with the username NatashaRomanoff, and I'm uploading some exclusive work on AE that I am not going to post anywhere else on the web, plus a few of these chapters, because the Clintasha must be spread.**

 **So definitely check out the site! Again, follow me on there for work that you won't see anywhere else!**


	58. Oliver

**PLEASE READ!**

 **DISCLAIMER: This is going to be a similar thing to the Zoe-verse fics that I've written, in which they do actually tie together, like a mini-series within my book. THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE VERY SAD! YOU WILL NOT LIKE THE ENDING, BUT THIS IS MY CREATIVE OUTLET TO DO WITH WHATEVER I PLEASE! This one is fine and happy and good, but the second part, which will be the next bit that I post, will be very sad and probably fairly long as I'm writing it on a plane. MOst of my writing has been fairly sad lately, as I'm going through some tough stuff, but hopefully going on vacation will help with all of that. The second and final part of the Oliver series will hopefully be up sometime Thursday night, along with whatever else I end up writing on my six-hour plane ride. For now, enjoy this happy chapter before the real sad stuff comes.**

Natasha and Maria had fallen asleep on the couch after having drinks and watching Disney movies until 3 am, while waiting for Steve and Clint to come home from their mission.

They were woken just after seven by a panicked Clint. "Guys," he hissed. "Steve's carrying it. You've gotta be quiet or it might wake up..."

Clint's eyes were bugged out, and he looked genuinely terrified. Both ladies sat up, instantly alert. Nat and Maria were both sure that Clint was talking about a terrifying prisoner or maybe some sort of Asgardian monster, and both nearly burst into laughter when Steve walked into the room.

Here he was, the fierce and mighty Captain America, who looked like he was about to piss himself. His shield was tucked safely on his back, and in his arms, which would normally be open for Maria to run into and hug him, was a... baby? Sure enough, there was a sleeping baby in Steve's arms, who couldn't be much older than perhaps one, one and a half.

Natasha broke out into a smile, kissed Clint on the cheek, and ran to take the baby from Steve, who nearly collapsed on the couch when the baby was safely from his arms.

"Where'd you find him?" Natasha asked, softly cooing down at the baby.

"Down at the start of the alley right by the Tower," Clint said. "He came with a note too... Hi, my name is Oliver, or Ollie. I need somewhere nice to live, because my daddy is mean to my mommy, and my mommy doesn't want me to get hurt. Please take care of me," Clint read the note to the other three people in the room, Steve's jaw tensing when it said that Oliver's dad was abusive.

"Hello, Oliver," Maria smiled gently as the little baby opened his eyes. Right at that moment, Thor walked into the room. His eyes lit up when he saw that there was a baby present.

"Who's baby Midguardian is this?" Thor boomed, but dropped his voice to a whisper when Ollie's eyes welled with tears at the loud noise.

Natasha looked up at Clint, and the two had a moment of understanding. Clint had been, despite his slight fear of babies, wishing lately that he and Natasha could have kids at some point, although he knew the Red Room had taken that away from them.

Natasha wanted children as well, but had always felt that adopting would be better even if she was capable of having kids, because she didn't want to pass along her tainted genes. Finally, both Clint and Nat seemed to be in agreement.

"Ours now, I suppose," Natasha told Thor.

(One Year Later)

"Oliver, slow down!" Natasha called as she chased her toddler through the halls of the Tower.

She laughed as the little boy made a beeline for his father and Uncle Steve as they stepped out of the elevator, having just returned from a week-long stake out in Budapest. Clint knelt and swept Ollie up as his son reached him, smiling a mile wide. Oliver hugged his father tightly. He was very much a momma's boy, but he always missed his father the most when they were away. Fury, having completely turned to mush after being dubbed "Uncle Nick", had tried harder to keep Natasha and Clint on different mission rotations so that one was always at home with their son.

Oliver reached for his Uncle Steve after giving Clint a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. Steve and Ollie were very close, especially since Steve let Oliver sleep with his shield.

All of the Avengers knew that Bucky was Oliver's favorite uncle, but Steve would have none of it. He was determined to be Oliver's favorite, even if it killed him.

Speaking of the former Winter Soldier, Bucky rounded the corner just as Oliver was wiggling down from Steve's arms.

"Unc' Buck!" Ollie squealed, running to him.

"Hey, Ollie!" Bucky called, catching the little boy with ease as Oliver jumped into his arms. Bucky swung him around so that Ollie was seated comfortably on his shoulders. Bucky was quick to hug Steve, as they hadn't seen each other in over a month. Bucky had been in Russia on HYDRA recon, taking out a base, a mission that had taken just over three weeks. The day before Bucky was due back, Steve had been jetted off to Budapest. They were the very best of friends, and after spending more than 70 years apart, going even a few days without talking to each other was hell for both men.

Ollie, who quickly became bored of Steve and Bucky's conversation, squirmed until Bucky put him down, and then dragged Bucky's girlfriend, Jemma Simmons, off to the lab so that she could show him how to blow stuff up with Bruce.

Natasha couldn't help but hope that Oliver's mum was safe as well, and that she somehow knew that someone was taking good care of her-well, Natasha's now-son.

Clint and Natasha had, just a few weeks after officially adopting him, decided that they would tell Oliver who his real parents were, once he was old enough. But the Avengers were his family now, and nothing could change that.


End file.
